The Girl and the Dawn Treader
by chibimaker
Summary: Sequel to the Prince and The Stranger. Max returns to Narnia, joining Caspian and others on the Dawn Treader as it goes through the Eastern Sea. And with the changing of the sea, is there a changing in Max and Caspian's relationship? Caspian/OC. Enjoy!
1. Meeting Mom

The Girl and the Dawn Treader

1

Maxine sighed, looking out the window of her room in the Farsend orphanage. Although she had already turned eighteen, she still stayed with the Farsends, because she couldn't find a place of her own to stay in just yet. She had been browsing apartments for weeks, but none of them really fit her budget, and if they did, they didn't exactly meet her requirements. It was hard to figure all this stuff out! She lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was a rare occasion for the orphanage to be so quiet, but that's because many children had either been sent into foster care, or adopted into loving families. Since she had left Narnia, she had changed a bit in her appearance. Her hair had grown out so it was long enough to brush her shoulders, she had also matured in other ways, her cup size changing from a B to a D. She looked much more like a grown woman than a young high schooler. Maxine closed her eyes, enjoying the silence. When she closed her eyes, she saw the face of the man she loved, and the man she left behind in a different world.

Prince Caspian.

Or, King Caspian, as he's known now, she thought. Her heart beat painfully at the thought of him, even after an entire year. She wondered if he thought of her as often as she did of him. She would remember the time they spent together, in the castle gardens, in the shuddering wood, in Aslan's How, and in the castle courtyards. She remembered her friends from Narnia, like Trufflehunter the badger, Reepicheep the mouse, or Tristae the centaur. She even thought of her friends that were human, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. Speaking of Pevensies…

She had found out last year that one of them, Susan Pevensie, was now known as Susan Farsend, the same elderly woman who took care of her for all her natural-born life. She was practically a mother to her, and her husband, Jacob Farsend, was a good man. They must have been a good match some years ago. They still were.

"Max!" Susan called from downstairs, "Phone for you!" Maxine jumped up from her bed and ran down the stair case, seeing the elderly Susan waiting in the kitchen, holding the telephone. Maxine went over to her and took it.

"Yes?" She said.

"Hello, Maxine." The voice on the other end said, Maxine smiled.

"Hello, Detective." She said, "To what do I owe this call?" Last year, two weeks before her birthday, Maxine had told Susan that she would like to know who her mother was, and have her attend her birthday party. She had abandoned Maxine on Susan's doorstep when she was a baby, so Maxine had never really known her. So, as a birthday gift, Susan used her money to hire a private detective to test Maxine's DNA against any documented rapists. Maxine was the product of a rape, so it was only logical to assume the man had either been caught and was in prison, or he hadn't. This was the first time he had called them in over a month.

"Well, I have some good news, and I have some bad news." The detective, named Jackson, said, "Which do you want to hear first?"

"The bad news." Maxine said instantly.

"Okay, the bad news is that I _might_ have gotten a cop buddy of mine to lose his badge for helping me out," He said, "The good news is, I found a match for your DNA."

"You did?" Maxine asked excitedly, anxious to find out who her parents were.

"Yes," She heard the sound of papers shuffling, "Your father… is a man named Ronald Berkley, a 55 year old man who's currently on death row, scheduled to be executed by the electric chair next month. He was put away for the murders of nine young women, and rapes of ten. His only living victim is the one that got him caught, and I do believe she is your mother."

"Who is she?" Maxine demanded.

"Hang on a second," Jackson said, going through some more papers, "Uh… Where did I—? Ah, here it is. Your mother is a woman named Sheryl Thompson. She's a 32 year old woman who lives in Chicago, Illinois. She actually looks a lot like you."

"Thirty two?" Maxine repeated, thinking over that number, "Then… when I was conceived, my mom was—"

"Fourteen." Jackson said, "All of his victims were fifteen and under." Maxine sighed.

"Great, my father was a sick pervert, and my mother was one of his unfortunate victims." Susan overheard this part from where she was standing in the kitchen and frowned sadly.

"Pretty much." Jackson said, "So, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yeah, actually," Maxine said, grabbing a pencil and a notepad, "Could you give me her address?"

"Sure," Jackson said, "One second," He rifled through some more papers, "Okay, your mother lives on 1432 on… Alexander Street in Chicago suburbia." Maxine nodded, scribbling down the address.

"Thanks, Jackson." Maxine said, "I'll send your check by mail."

"You're welcome." Jackson said, "And if you ever need more detective work, you know who to call."

"Goodbye." Maxine said, hanging up the phone. She tore the page with her mother's address on it off of the notepad. She turned to Susan with a smile, "He found her."

"That's wonderful, Max." She said, "Where is she?"

"Chicago."

"That's only a few hours from here." Susan said, "If you want, I could lend you my car."

"I'd really appreciate that, Susan." Maxine said, coming over and hugging her friend.

* * *

><p>Maxine turned the car around another corner, following the directions she had gotten off of Google maps, looking carefully at the numbers written on the houses. 1428… 1430… 1432, there it is. She pulled up on the curb beside the house and stepped out. The house itself didn't look like anything special, just a simple two-story brick house that looked exactly like all the other houses, with the same kind of tree growing in front of every house. Maxine locked her car doors and walked up the front steps of the house, pushing the doorbell and waiting patiently for someone to answer as a dog came barking at the door.<p>

"No! Be quiet, Shaggy!" A voice said, the door opened and Maxine saw a little girl who was no more than seven open the door. She had brown hair that went down to her mid-back, and big brown eyes. She smiled at the little girl, putting her hands on her knees and leaning down at her.

"Hi there." She said, "Is your mommy home?"

"No." The little girl shook her head, "But my daddy is." Before Maxine could say anything else, she turned around and hollered, "DADDY! SOME LADY'S AT THE DOOR!"

A second later a man who looked to be about 33 or 34 with blonde hair and brown eyes came over to her and picked her up.

"Addie, what have I told you about shouting in the house?" He asked.

"To not to." The little girl, Addie, replied innocently. The man looked at Maxine.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for Sheryl Thompson," Maxine said, "Is she home?"

"You mean Sheryl _Kingsley_," The man corrected, "And no, she's not home at the moment." He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her, "You look _so_ familiar, have we met before?"

"Um, no sir." Maxine said, "Do you know when she'll be home?"

"I expect her home any minute." The man said, "If you give me your number, I can have her call you when she gets home."

"Actually, it's _really_ important that I talk to her in person." Maxine said.

"Well…" The man rubbed at his neck unsurely, "I suppose you can wait here, if you want."

"I'd really appreciate that, Mr. Kingsley." Maxine said. Mr. Kingsley stepped aside to let her in. She was surprised when a big sheepdog jumped up on her, trying to lick her face.

"No! Down boy!" He said, pushing the big dog away from her.

"No, no, it's okay." Maxine said with a laugh, letting the dog jump up on her again, "I love dogs." She scratched affectionately at the top of the dog's head, and he panted happily, "What's his name?"

"His name is Shaggy." Addie said from her father's arms, Maxine kneeled down, making it easier for the dog to lick her face, "He really likes people."

"I see that." Maxine said, she patted the dog's head, and he licked at her nose. She stood up and she walked in, looking around the den. It was simple, and cozy, with one couch facing the plasma screen TV, and a large, leather armchair next to it. In between the two was a wooden coffee table covered in children's drawings and newspapers, among other things.

"Take a seat." Mr. Kingsley said, inviting her to sit on the couch, so she did. He put his daughter down just as they heard shouting from upstairs. Mr. Kingsley groaned, "Not _again_." Maxine watched in amusement as two twin boys, both of them about eight years old, came running down the stairs, hitting each other's blonde heads with inflatable baseball bats. "Derek! Darren! Enough!" Mr. Kingsley grabbed the bats and yanked them out of the boys' hands. The two boys pouted at him angrily, "I told you kids, if you're gonna play rough, play outside." He handed them back the bats and they ran out to the backyard. One of them stopped and looked at Maxine with his blue eyes, the same shade of blue as Maxine's.

"I'm Derek." He said.

"Hi, Derek." Maxine said, "I'm Max." Derek scrunched up his nose.

"Max is a _boy's_ name!" He said, Maxine laughed.

"It's short for Maxine." She said.

"Oh." Derek said, "It's a weird name."

"I know." Maxine said. Derek ran off to join his brother without saying another word to her. Mr. Kingsley watched him leave, then turned to her.

"So, Max," He said, "How is it that you know my wife?"

"It's a pretty long story." Maxine said.

"I've got time." He said, Maxine hesitated.

"It's about something from a _really_ long time ago." Maxine said, "She may not have talked to you about it yet."

"I know everything about my wife's past." Mr. Kingsley said confidently, "Even the darkest stuff."

"…Did she tell you about what happened eighteen years ago?" Maxine asked.

"Eighteen years ago…" Mr. Kingsley murmured, "That was… her rape?"

"Oh, so you _do_ know." Maxine said.

"I don't understand what that has to do with you, though." Mr. Kingsley said, "My wife didn't mention anything about someone named Max." A thought seemed to strike him, "Just how old _are_ you, anyway?"

"Eighteen." Maxine said.

"So… You weren't even born when this happened." Mr. Kingsley said.

"Actually, that's kind of the reason I'm here." Maxine said. The front door opened and Maxine's eyes widened at the sight of a woman in her early thirties with long, brown hair that cascaded down to her upper back. She had Maxine's blue eyes, and she actually looked like an older version her.

"I'm home!" She said, she looked at Maxine in surprise when she saw her sitting on her couch, "Robert, are we hiring a new babysitter?"

"Um, she said she's here for you." Mr. Kingsley said, she looked over at her. Maxine stood up and took a deep breath, stepping towards her, seeing that she was only about two inches taller. She smiled politely at her as she came face to face with her.

"Um… Hi." She said lamely, holding out her hand for her to shake. Her mother shook it, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"…Who are you?" She asked.

"I can explain that…" Maxine began, "Uh, see, about eighteen years ago, you were raped by a man named Ronald Berkley. As a result of him not wearing a condom when it happened, or he _did_ wear a condom and it broke, I never really got the details, but… because of that, you got pregnant with a baby girl… and you left her on the doorstep of an orphanage." Her mother's eyes widened as she spoke about it, "…My name is Maxine Marina Farsend… I'm your daughter." Mr. Kingsley looked at his wife in surprise.

"You never told me you had a daughter." He said.

"I-I didn't think I'd ever see her again!" Maxine's mother exclaimed. She looked down at Maxine, taking her face in her hands, "I can't believe I'm actually talking to you… How did you find me?"

"My friend hired a private detective to test my DNA against any documented rapists." Maxine said, letting her mother turn her head from side to side, "Seeing as you left a note with me at the orphanage, saying I was the child of your rapist."

"You don't look a thing like him." Sheryl said, she released Maxine's face and sighed in relief, "Thank God." Maxine smiled at her, "So… why don't we sit down and talk?"

* * *

><p>"…And since then, I've been living with Susan." Maxine said, basically explaining her life story to her mother, "She's been really sweet about it, giving me my own room, and my own bed. It's like home for me."<p>

"I'm glad to hear it." Sheryl said, smiling at her daughter. Maxine smiled back at her.

"So… I have siblings." Maxine began, trying to keep the conversation going. Sheryl nodded.

"Yes." She said, "They're only your half-siblings of course."

"I know." Maxine said, "And I'm glad I got to see them." She looked down at the sheepdog that was lying underneath the table, with his head right next to her feet as she and her mother sat talking in the kitchen, drinking iced tea. Derek, Darren, and Addie were outside, playing popcorn on the trampoline. Addie was squealing in delight as her two brothers bounced her up and down. Maxine smiled at the sight, "They seem to get along well."

"Better than most kids their age." Sheryl said with a smile, "Derek and Darren get along so well because they're twins, and I don't think they mind having Addison as their little tagalong." She looked back at her eighteen year old daughter, "You know, if you ever want to get to know them better…" Maxine looked over at her, "Robert and I could always use a babysitter. We'll pay you eight dollars an hour for it." Maxine smiled at her.

"Actually, I'd love to watch them sometime." She said, she looked down at her iced tea, "It's so comforting to know I actually have a pair of brothers and a sister waiting out there for me." Sheryl frowned slightly, thinking of how her daughter must have felt when she left her behind on that door step.

"Listen, Maxine…" She began, making Maxine look up at her, "I never wanted to let you go. To be honest, I loved the idea of having a little girl of my own to take care of. That's why I gave birth to you, even though my parents were against it the entire time." Sheryl sighed sadly, running her finger around the rim of her glass, "But when you were born, you were so much responsibility… It was more than I could handle at the time, because my parents wouldn't help me for having you. I was on my own, and I knew nothing about taking care of children. I tried my best to take care of you, but… It wasn't enough." She put her hand down on the table, Maxine looked at her sadly, "I gave you away to the orphanage because I knew they would find you a better mother than me."

"That must have taken a lot of strength." Maxine said, reaching over and taking her mother's hand in her own. Sheryl looked up at her, smiling softly at her and squeezing her hand.

"Yes, it did…" She said, "I'm so glad you understand, Max. After all these years, I was always afraid that you would hate me."

"Well, for a while," Maxine said, "I did. But, as time passed, I began to realize what it must have been like for you. I kept on imagining different situations that wouldn't allow you to take care of me, and I figured you must have had a good reason for it… So, I guess, I kind of… forgave you for it after a while." She looked up and saw her mother crying. Maxine began to panic, "Aw, no! What did I say? I'm sorry!"

"No, Max," Sheryl said, wiping her tears away, "I'm not upset. I'm just… glad to hear those words." Maxine calmed down and smiled at her mother, squeezing her hand gently.

* * *

><p>"Feel free to come back, anytime!" Sheryl said from the doorway as she and her family waved goodbye to Max as she got into Susan's car. She waved back and turned on the ignition, pulling off the curb and heading down the road.<p>

"Bye-bye!" Addie shouted from her father's arms.

"See you!" Derek and Darren shouted at the same time, they quickly turned to each other and said, "Jinx! You owe me a soda!" Sheryl laughed at her two boys, patting their heads and leading them back inside. Maxine smiled as she saw the event through her rear-view mirror. She turned the car down the street, looking at the sky, frowning when she saw rainclouds above her.

"I don't remember there being any rain in the forecast…" She muttered, driving out of the neighborhood and heading down the road and onto the highway, surprised to find it empty in the middle of rush hour. She pulled out her cellphone and started dialing Susan's number, listening as her phone rang. She frowned when she heard the voicemail come on, "Hey, Susan, it's me. I just wanted to call you and tell you about my mom. She's a really nice girl, and I have two brothers and a sister, too. I'll tell you more about it when I get there. Anyway, I'm bringing your car back so you don't have to freak out about—" As she approached a bridge, a deer came out on the road, "_OhmyGod!_" She slammed her foot down on the brakes, moving the steering wheel to avoid the creature as it was paralyzed in fear. She went around the deer, but she still didn't stop, and swerved off of the bridge into the river waiting below. Maxine shrieked as she splashed into the water below.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I changed Lucy's age from ten to twelve so she'd be about thirteen in this story. Enjoy the story! :)**


	2. Welcome Aboard

2

_In Cambridge, 1941…_

"I'm home!" Lucy called as she walked through the door, "Hello?" She picked up the box of groceries and walked through the den, where her Uncle Harold sat reading the paper, "Hello, Uncle Harold. I tried to find some carrots, but all they had were turnips again." Her uncle said nothing as she walked into the kitchen, putting some of the groceries on the table. Edmund walked up next to the den after her, looking at his uncle. "Shall I start making soup? Aunt Alberta's on her way home." Her uncle still didn't reply as she came into the den. She looked at him, getting increasingly tired of how her uncle paid more attention to the paper he read, "Uncle Harold." He still said nothing, folding the paper so he could keep reading it.

Edmund looked at his uncle in disbelief, disgusted at the fact that he cared more about the morning paper than his own niece and nephew. He stuck his tongue out at him in retaliation, knowing he wouldn't see it.

"Father!" A voice said, Edmund turned around to see his cousin, Eustace Clarence Scrubb (If anyone so deserved such a name), standing on the stairs, "Edmund's making faces at you!" Edmund glared at him, and Eustace took a pea shooter and shot a pea at him, hitting his neck. Edmund put his hand over the spot he shot at, and looked just about ready to kill his cousin. He ran up the stairs towards him.

"Why you little—!"

"Father, he's gonna hit me!" Eustace cried, cowering away from his cousin.

"Edmund, look!" Lucy's voice came, making him stop. She came over to the stairs and held up a letter with a smile, "It's from Susan!"

* * *

><p>"<em>I do wish you were here with us. It's been such an adventure! But nothing like our times in Narnia. America is very exciting, except, we never see father. He works so very hard.<em>" Lucy read aloud as she and Edmund sat in her room from Susan's letter, "_I was invited to the British Consul's tea party this week by a naval officer, who happens to be very handsome. I think he fancies me._" Edmund got up from Lucy's bed and looked at the painting that rested over the mantle in her room, looking at the ship that had been drawn in the background. "_It seems the Germans have made the crossing difficult right now, times are hard. Mother hopes you both won't mind another few months in Cambridge_…" Edmund whirled around to look at her, and she looked back at him, "Another few_ months?_! How will we _survive_?" Edmund came over and looked at the letter.

"You're lucky," He said, scanning over Susan's hand-writing, "Least you've got your own room. I'm stuck with mullet-mouth."

"Susan and Peter are the lucky ones." Lucy said, getting up from her bed and walking up to the mirror on the wall. "Off on adventures." With Lucy off the bed, Edmund made use of the extra space, lying down on her bedspread.

"Yeah, they're the oldest and we're the youngest." He said, "We don't matter as much." Lucy looked over her reflection in the mirror, tucking hair behind her ear.

"Do you think I look _anything_ like Susan…?" She asked quietly. Edmund sighed and put the letter down on the bed next to him.

"Why can't Max be here with us?" He asked, "She'd at least make staying here a little more bearable. Why hasn't she called us yet?"

"Edmund, she was from _decades_ into the future," Lucy said, turning to him, "She probably hasn't even been born yet."

"Well, I wish she'd be born _faster_." Edmund grumbled. Lucy let out a small laugh.

"Just be patient." She said, "We'll see her when we go to Narnia again, of that much I'm sure. If we don't, then we'll both be ancient by the time she _is_ born." Edmund sighed again.

"Lucy, have you seen this ship before?" He asked, getting up from the bed and walking over to the painting. Lucy smiled at the sight of it.

"Yes," She said, walking up next to him to gaze at it, "It's very Narnian-looking isn't it?"

"Yeah." Edmund agreed, "Well… Just another reminder that we're here and not there."

"There once were two orphans," A voice said from behind them, the two siblings looked to see Eustace coming in, "Who wasted their time… Believing in Narnian nursery rhyme." Edmund gave him a murderous glare.

"_Please_ let me hit him." He begged Lucy as he stormed over to Eustace. Lucy reached out and grabbed his arm before he went too far.

"No!" Lucy said. Edmund shook her arm off, still glaring at his cousin.

"Don't you ever knock?" He asked him.

"It's _my_ house." Eustace said, "I can do as I please. You're just _guests_." The two tried to ignore him as he walked into the room, sitting down on the bed, "What's so fascinating about that picture anyway? It's hideous."

"You won't see it from the other side of the door." Edmund said, still looking at the painting. Eustace made a face at him, but he didn't notice.

"Edmund, it looks like the water's actually moving." Lucy said with a smile, staring at the painting.

"What _rubbish_." Eustace scoffed, "See? That's what happens when you read all those fanciful novels and fairy tales of yours."

"There once was a boy called Eustace," Edmund began with a smile, "Who read books full of facts that were useless." Lucy smiled at him.

"People who read fairy tales are _always_ the sort that become a hideous burden to people like _me_." Eustace said, Edmund turned around to face his cousin with an angry look of disbelief, "Who read books with _real_ information."

"_Hideous burden_?" He repeated angrily, walking over to Eustace, who jumped up at the sight of his angered cousin, "I haven't seen you lift a _finger_ since we've been here." Lucy looked at the picture as she saw that the waves really were moving, a small drop of water began coming out of the corner of the painting. Eustace tried to run from the room, but Edmund shut the door before he had a chance to get out. "I have a right mind to tell your father it was _you_ who stole Aunt Alberta's sweets!"

"Liar." Eustace said quickly. Lucy blinked quickly as she began to feel the salty mist from the ocean waves from the painting.

"Oh, really?" Edmund asked.

"Edmund, the painting!" She exclaimed, seeing the ship in the background coming closer to her, and more water stream out.

"I found them under your bed," Edmund continued as if Lucy hadn't spoken, "And do you know what? I _licked_ every one of them." He smiled smugly as Eustace shuddered violently.

"_Ugh_! I'm infected with _you_!" He said disgustedly. Lucy gasped as a wave splashed up and sprinkled her with water, as well as Eustace and Edmund. Water began pouring out of the painting and soaking everything on the mantle and spilling out of the painting. Edmund and Lucy smiled excitedly, while Eustace just looked terrified. "What's going on here?"

"Lucy, do you think…?" Edmund said excitedly.

"It's some kind of trick!" Eustace said quickly, "Stop it or I'll tell mother!" He turned to the door, trying to ignore the now flooded room, shouting for his mother. He looked at the picture, his heart racing in fear at the sight of the ocean practically turning the picture frame into a water fall in the room, "Oh, I'll just smash the rotten thing!" He ran over to the painting and pulled it off the walls. Edmund and Lucy grabbed onto his arms, trying to stop him.

"No, Eustace!" Edmund cried, trying to pull the painting away from him, "No!"

"Eustace, put it back!" Lucy cried, "Let it go!"

In all the fighting, Eustace dropped the painting onto the floor, and the water burst out of the painting, drenching the entire floor in salt water. Soon the water rose up to their knees. Lucy screamed as she lost her footing, Edmund and Eustace doing the same, as if the floor had just disappeared out from under them. As they swam around in the water, occasionally dipping under the water, where it rose higher and higher at an unbelievable speed. When the entire room was filled, they swam up to where the air awaited them, seeing the walls of the room disappear as they swam in a large ocean. The three of them gasped for breath as they stuck their heads out of the water, with Eustace flailing his arms around as he looked around him.

* * *

><p><em>In Chicago, 2011…<em>

Maxine cursed profusely as she tried to unbuckle herself as the car began to fill up with water from the river. The buckle in Susan's car had gotten stuck, like it had many times before then, and she couldn't escape. Once the water had covered her car entirely, and she was waist-deep in the cold liquid in her car, the seatbelt finally came undone. She knew if she opened the car door, the entire car would flood faster, so she sat back and slammed her feet against the window, desperately trying to break it so she could escape. When the water had gotten up to her neck, she gave up on the window and took a deep breath from the remaining air that was left in the car and stuck her head under the water, opening the car door. She felt her head crying out in pain from the level of water pressure in a river that shouldn't have been that deep. She pushed the door open and swam out, watching the car sink into seemingly unending depths of water.

Her lungs began to burn in need of air, and she swam up to the surface of the water as fast as she could, her eyes beginning to sting from the feeling of saltwater coming into them instead of the freshwater that the river should have had. She went up to the surface, gasping for air, and was surprised that she was no longer in the river, but in a vast ocean. She looked around, seeing three other forms in the water, and a huge ship heading over to her. She shrieked in fear and began to swim away, hearing one of the other people in the water with her crying out for the others to swim. None of them noticed the men diving off of the ship and swimming towards them. Maxine found it increasingly difficult to swim with her clothes and shoes weighing her down. She felt arms encase themselves around her, and she panicked, hitting the body and screaming.

"Stop! Stop that!" The man said, "I'm trying to help you!" Maxine stopped and looked at the man, having never seen him before, but recognizing the style of old clothes that belonged to the fifteenth century.

"Edmund! It's Caspian!" A voice called out, Maxine looked over to see a young girl, and saw it was Lucy Pevensie, and next to her was a dark head of hair that she recognized instantly with a wide smile. She looked over at the two other forms swimming away and recognized Edmund Pevensie, but didn't recognize the other, who hadn't stopped swimming. Maxine looked back at the man with a smile.

"Thank you." She said, the man nodded and pulled her into his arms, both of them swimming towards the ship.

"We're in Narnia?" Edmund's voice called.

"Yes, you're in Narnia!" A voice called back. Maxine's heart soared as she recognized it as Caspian's.

"I don't wanna go!" An unfamiliar voice wailed, "I wanna go back to England! I'm going back to England!" Maxine let the man bring her over to a small plank was being lowered down and he had her stand on it next to him.

"Hold on, Miss." He said, his arm around her waist. Maxine jumped a little in surprise when the plank was lifted up and they came onto the deck of the ship. She jumped onto the deck, her arms around herself as she felt the cool air surround her and her wet clothes that clung to her body. She looked over on the opposite side and saw Caspian and Lucy coming up as well.

She smiled widely and shouted out, "Lucy!" She looked over at her and matched her smile.

"Max!" She cried, she ran over to her and the two girls embraced tightly, even though they were both soaking wet. Lucy laughed as she pulled away, "You're soaking wet!"

"You're one to talk!" Max returned with a laugh, shivering as she pulled away. A man came over to her with a towel and draped them over her shoulders, "Thank you." She turned to see who it was, and looked directly into the beautiful brown eyes of Caspian X, king of Narnia. "Caspian…" He embraced her tightly, and she did the same, her face going into his chest. She felt a tightness in her chest that had been there for so long finally release itself as Caspian held her close. He kissed the top of her head fondly before pulling away from her, letting her get more comfortable in the towel.

"That was thrilling." Lucy said as she had her own towel draped over her, and another towel was handed to Caspian. He smiled as he put his arms around the two girls and began leading them across the deck.

"How in the world did you end up here?" Caspian asked them.

"I have no idea." Lucy said with a laugh.

"Me either." Maxine said.

"Caspian!" A voice called, they looked behind them and saw Edmund behind them. Caspian smiled and walked over to him, putting his towel around his shoulders.

"Edmund." He said happily, bringing him over to where Lucy and Max were.

"It's great to see you." Edmund said.

"Great to see you." Caspian replied.

"Didn't you call for us?" Lucy asked Caspian.

"…No." Caspian said, "Not this time."

"Well, whatever the case," Edmund said, "I'm just glad to be here." Maxine smiled and looked at Caspian.

"Me too." She said, Caspian smiled at her. They all heard screaming and looked back to see Eustace flailing around with something on his chest.

"Don't touch me!" Eustace shouted, "Get that thing off me!" He threw the creature off of him and he rolled over to Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, and Maxine.

"Reepicheep!" Lucy cried, happy to see the small mouse. Reepicheep looked up at them and smiled, bowing.

"Your majesties." He greeted.

"Hello, Reep." Edmund said, "What a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine, sir," Reepicheep said, "But first, what to do about this… this hysterical interloper?" He pointed back at where Eustace was bending over and coughing roughly. When he finished, he instantly looked back at Reepicheep.

"That giant rat thing just tried to claw my face off!" Eustace cried, pointing at Reepicheep.

"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs, sir." Reepicheep said, Eustace looked at him with wide, freaked out eyes and jumped up.

"It talk— Did you see?" He stuttered out, pointing at Reepicheep, "Anyone just hear that? It just talked!"

"He _always_ talks." A member of the crew said.

"Actually, it's getting him to shut up that's the trick." Caspian said, the crewmen laughed.

"The moment there is nothing to be said, your highness," Reepicheep said, sounding slightly offended, "I promise you, I will not say it."

"Well, I don't know what kind of prank this is, but I want to wake up _right now!_!" Eustace shouted.

"Perhaps we could throw him back?" Reepicheep said as Eustace began going on about being kidnapped by 'some sort of sea-faring carnival'. Maxine looked over at Edmund and Lucy, seeing how Edmund looked like he was actually contemplating the idea.

"Edmund!" Lucy said in appall, harshly elbowing him when she saw his face. Maxine looked back at the boy, who looked close to tears.

"I _demand_ to know just where in the _blazes am I?_!" He demanded, coming over to some of the crew. A minotaur stepped up to him, Maxine snorted when she saw his eyes become as big as dinner plates at the sight of him.

"You're on the _Dawn Treader_," He said to him, "The finest ship in Narnia's navy." Maxine burst out in peals of laughter when she saw the boy fall on the floor from fainting, as did the rest of the crew. Caspian came up the minotaur, who looked at him in slight worry, "Was it something I said?"

Caspian only laughed, "See to him, will you?" The minotaur nodded.

"Your majesty." He said, he turned back to Eustace and picked him up bridal-style and carried him below deck. Caspian went up the stairs near the helm.

"Men!" He shouted to the crew, "Behold our castaways!" The crew looked to Edmund, Maxine, and Lucy, "Edmund the Just, Lucy the Valiant, and Maxine the Strong. High King and Queens of Narnia." Maxine watched as the entire crew bowed to them.

"I'm _still_ not used to that." She whispered to Edmund and Lucy, who laughed quietly. Caspian came back down to them.

"I'll get you all some dry clothes to change into." He said, leading them below deck. Maxine looked around the ship as they went through the halls, Caspian stopped at a door and opened it up, walking in. Maxine looked in, seeing it was a bedroom that must have been Caspian's. He opened up a trunk and pulled out some shirts, pants, and a few other things, then bringing them back to them, "I'm sorry I don't have any dresses for you to change into, but we weren't exactly expecting female company on this voyage."

"It's fine." Maxine said, "I'm more used to boys' clothes anyway." Caspian smiled at her.

"I'm sure of that." He said, handing her and Lucy some clothes, "Shall I find you somewhere to change? The rooms next door are empty."

"I'll go in this one." Lucy said, pointing to the room to the right of Caspian's bedroom.

"And I'll go in that one." Edmund said, pointing to the room on the left. The two siblings left, leaving Maxine and Caspian in a room together, alone. Maxine looked up at him, and he looked back at her.

"Um… Can I change in here?" She asked him, she saw a light blush on Caspian's cheeks, and he nodded.

"Yes," He said, "I promise I won't look." Maxine smiled at him.

"Thanks." She said, going to an unoccupied part of the room while Caspian shut the doors. Maxine peeled off her wet clothes, letting them land on the floor with a wet _slap!_ Caspian kept his back to her, staring at the wall as she changed. "So… How are you?"

"I'm well." Caspian said, "And yourself?"

"I'm great." Maxine said, having a little difficulty taking off her wet jeans, "Damn it… Come _off_…"

"Is everything alright?" Caspian asked, slightly turning his head.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine." Maxine said, hopping on one leg as she pulled off her jeans, "Just a little… clothes trouble…" She froze when two hands covered her own as they pulled off her jeans.

"Perhaps… I can help?" Caspian whispered in her ear. Maxine shivered from the sound of it, her face blooming out in a blush, and her heart racing.

"If you want…" She whispered back, silently thanking God that the T-shirt she had decided to wear was a man's T-shirt that traveled down to her thighs. Caspian's hands gently removed hers and lowered her jeans down to her legs, where they fell to the ground and she stepped out of them. Caspian's hands, shaking a bit, went to the hem of her shirt, grasping at it.

"May I?" He asked quietly. Unable to come up with a response, Maxine raised up her arms instead, and Caspian lifted up her shirt over her head. When it was off, Maxine's arms instantly went across her chest, grabbing onto her shoulders. She stood still in her underwear, a pair of white panties and a bra to match. Caspian had never seen her so bare before, and she was a bit embarrassed, and worried about what he might think of her. Caspian's hands went over hers on her shoulders, and she felt her breathing hitch as Caspian gently placed his lips on her bare shoulder. Her heart pounded in her chest as he left unbelievably light butterfly kisses on her skin. His kisses became a bit harder as they traveled to her neck and her jaw. She shivered from the feel of it as Caspian wrapped one arm around her middle, pulling her to him.

"Caspian…" She murmured as he kissed her cheek. He put his other arm around her chest, and she grasped at it, turning her head to him. His lips met hers in a way that could only be called pure happiness. She turned in his arms, wrapping her own around his neck as Caspian's tongue slid across her lips, asking for entrance. Maxine opened her mouth and gladly let him in, her tongue sliding against his as her hand went up into his dark locks. How she had missed this. Missed _him_. Feeling his lips moving against hers put her on cloud nine, and being in his arms made her feel at home once again. Caspian had changed since she last saw him. He had grown a beard (Something she had always found incredibly sexy), which lightly tickled her skin as they kissed, and he had grown significantly taller. She felt herself being moved and soon found herself up against the wall of the room. She gasped as his lips moved away from hers, going to her neck, kissing it.

"I've missed you…" Caspian murmured, going to her collar bone.

"I missed you, too." Maxine gasped as he began sucking on it, "Oh, _Caspian_…!" Caspian suddenly pulled away, his hands on either side of Maxine's head, panting harshly. Maxine panted as well, not having experienced something that hot since she left. She watched in surprise as he suddenly moved away, "Caspian?" He said nothing, picking up the clothes he had picked out for her and giving them to her.

"You should… hurry and change." Caspian said, clearing his throat, "We don't want to keep Lucy and Edmund waiting." He turned around again and started to walk away, and Caspian went over to him, stopping him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Caspian, why did you stop?" She asked him, still surprised at how he suddenly pulled away from her.

"Because I can." Caspian said, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder, "I fear if I go any further… I might not be able to control myself." Maxine stood a bit stunned as he walked over to the door, but stopping when his hand was on the handle, "So… Please. Hurry and get dressed. I will be waiting for you on deck." He closed the doors behind him. Maxine glared at the doors and grumbled to herself as she pulled on the clothes.

"That freaking jerk… Kissing me like that… Getting me all hot and bothered… Then he just _leaves_ me here? Freaking _jerk_!"

* * *

><p>Maxine came out from Caspian's room and onto the deck, smiling at him as she walked closer to him, wearing the clothes he had given her. He smiled back at her, but it quickly disappeared when she frowned and smacked his shoulder.<p>

"What was that for?" He asked.

"You do something like what happened in _there_," She said in a low voice, "And it won't happen again." Caspian nodded.

"Understood." He said, rubbing his arm where she hit him. He looked her up and down, smiling, "You look good, by the way." Maxine looked down at herself, she was wearing a dark vest over her shirt, other than that, she only wore a pair of pants and a pair of boots. She shrugged.

"I just work with what you give me." She said. She looked over at Edmund as he came out from below deck, wearing a long, sleeveless jacket over his tunic. Other than that, they weren't dressed very differently. Caspian smiled at him as he walked over.

"Much better." He said, complimenting his look in Narnian clothes. Maxine had to agree with him. Edmund looked much more… Natural in Narnian clothes. Edmund nodded at him.

"Ready, Lu?" He called up to his sister at the helm. Maxine snorted a little to herself as she came down in clothes that were far too big for her and her petite body. She honestly looked like a little cabin boy. It seemed she knew this, because Lucy had a very disgruntled look on her face.

"Ah," Caspian said with a smile, "'Scuse me, lad, I don't suppose you've seen a young girl around here anywhere?"

"All _right_!" Lucy said, a whine underlying her voice as she smacked Caspian's shoulder. He laughed it off and began to lead them into a room below deck.

"You're terrible." Maxine laughed as they walked. She turned to Lucy, "And for the record, Luce, I think you look adorable."

"Thanks, I guess." Lucy said, Maxine grimaced slightly when she realized that wasn't the compliment Lucy wanted to hear. Caspian opened the doors to a room at the very back of the boat, which must have been something of a navigational room because, along with the room having various Narnia décor, there was a map lying on the table in the middle of the room. Maxine smiled as she approached a cabinet that bore the face of a very familiar lion.

"Aslan." She murmured, reaching up to where his mane was. Lucy walked over to another part of the room, and smiled when she recognized something else from Narnia.

"Look," She said, "Susan's bow and arrows." Maxine and Edmund turned around to see that Susan's bow and arrows were displayed near a window, looking completely untouched.

"Lucy," Caspian called, getting her attention. She turned around and saw Caspian holding two objects that were very dear to her.

"My healing cordial and dagger!" She said happily, walking over to Caspian. She hesitated before she took them, "Oh. May I?"

"Of course," Caspian said, "They're yours." Lucy took them from him, putting the two objects at her waist. Maxine smiled when she saw something very familiar to her.

"Is that my sword?" She asked, going over to where the blade was on display on top of a small stand. She looked over at Caspian, "You wouldn't mind if I…"

"Of course not," Caspian said, "It is _your_ sword. You may have it if you wish." Maxine smiled and picked up her blade, putting it in the sheath next to the display stand it had been sitting on and putting it at her waist, smiling at the familiar feel of it.

"Peter's sword." Edmund said, going over to where the sword was resting against the wall.

"Yes," Caspian said, going over to it, "Looked after, as promised." He picked it up and held it out to Edmund, "Here, hold it if you wish."

"No, no. It's yours." Edmund said quickly, "Peter gave it to you." Caspian nodded.

"I _did_ save this for you, though." He said, going over to a cabinet and pulling something out. Maxine raised a curious eyebrow when she saw it was a flashlight. He tossed it to Edmund with a smile, and he caught it.

"Thanks." He said, hiding his disappointment about not having his own sword on the ship. He flipped it on, blinking rapidly when he shined the light in his eyes. Maxine giggled behind her hand at the sight of it.


	3. The Lone Islands

3

"Since you left us, the giants of the north have surrendered unconditionally," Caspian said, pointing to a map on the table, "And we defeated the Calormen armies at the great desert." He looked up at his three friends, "There's peace across all of Narnia."

"Peace?" Edmund asked in surprise.

"In just three years." Caspian said proudly.

Lucy tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "And have you found yourself a queen in those three years?" Maxine looked over at Caspian, very interested to hear his answer. Although, if the moment between them before was any sort of explanation, she'd have to say…

"No." Caspian said, "Not one to compare with you, anyway." He looked at Maxine when he said this. She only nodded once.

"Hang on," Edmund said, "So if there are no wars to fight, and no one's in trouble, then why are _we_ here?"

"That's a good question," Caspian said, "I've been asking myself the same thing."

"So, where are we sailing to?" Edmund asked, looking at the map before them.

"Before I took back the throne from my uncle, he tried to kill my father's closest friends and most loyal supporters." He turned to where seven sketches of seven men hung on the wall, "The seven lords of Telmar." He turned back around, pointing to where a group of islands were drawn on the map, "They fled to the Lone Islands. No one's heard from them since."

"So, you think something's happened to them?" Edmund asked.

"If there has," Caspian began, "It's my duty to find out."

"Well," Maxine began, looking over the rest of the map, "What's east of the Lone Islands?" Her fingers skimmed over the blank side of the map.

"Uncharted waters," Maxine looked up at Drinian, captain of the Dawn Treader, "Things you could barely imagine. Tales of sea serpents and the worse."

Edmund laughed, "_Sea serpents_?"

"Alright, Captain," Caspian said with a smile, "That's enough of your tall tales." Drinian nodded once and headed out of the room. Maxine assumed he left to go back to whatever captaining duties he had.

"You know, now that I think about it," Lucy said, "Eustace hasn't come up from below deck. Do you think he's sick?"

Edmund scoffed, "He _deserves_ to be a little sick. Karmic justice at last!"

"Edmund!" Lucy said in appall, "If he's sick, we should go and help him. He's our cousin!"

"He's a brat! Let him suffer a bit for all the torture he put _us_ through." Edmund said. Lucy grabbed his arm and began dragging him out of the room.

"Well, you're coming with me to check on him whether you like it or not." Lucy said firmly, Edmund groaned.

"Aw, come on, Lu!" He whined, the door to the room shutting behind him, leaving Maxine and Caspian alone in a room, once again. Maxine looked over at him, and he smiled at her. She didn't smile back, and his smile disappeared.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, Maxine sighed, reaching a hand up to rub at her neck.

"Well… Yes and no." She said, "I mean… I'm glad you're still single and all, but…"

"…But?" Caspian egged.

"But, you shouldn't be." Maxine said, "I mean, three years Caspian? You should have found someone by now."

"What? Did you think I could just… move on? Find someone better to be with?" Caspian asked her, amazed that she was talking about the subject.

"Not better, but maybe good enough!" Maxine said, "Caspian, it's been three years. You need a queen, don't you? To give you an heir for your kingdom?"

"Can you blame me?" Caspian asked, "Maxine, I love you. I didn't want to be with anyone else!"

"I _know_ you love me…" Maxine muttered, turning away from him, beginning to pace, "I love you, too, but… _Damn_, Caspian! It's kind of important that you have a queen! I mean, it's been three _freaking_ years!" She turned and jumped back in surprise when she saw Caspian was right behind her. "I thought… You would have moved on." Caspian grasped her hands in his.

"And how long has it been for you?" Caspian asked.

"One year." Maxine said.

"And have you moved on as well?" Caspian asked a sad look in his brown eyes. Maxine quickly shook her head, reaching up and putting her hand on his cheek.

"No… How could I?" She asked, Caspian put his hand over hers, "Caspian, you're the first person that loved me that I actually loved back. How in the world could I move on from you?" Caspian's hand tightened around hers.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that." He said, he leaned down and Maxine didn't stop him as his lips met hers in a sweet kiss. Caspian's hand went around her waist, and Maxine's went around his neck. As the kiss became a bit more intense, Maxine pulled away.

"Caspian, this is _important_." She said firmly, "You're not going to make me forget about this just because you started kissing me." Caspian leaned down and started kissing her again.

"I can try." He said, Maxine felt the smile on his lips, and she let out a small giggle.

"Yeah, well, keep trying." She said as he moved her so she would sit on the table, his hands still at her waist. She wouldn't _dare_ tell him she was enjoying this. Oh, no. Not at all.

"Oh, I will." Caspian said as he kissed her smiling lips, "And I will _keep_ trying," He kissed her again, "And trying," Another kiss, "And trying," Maxine giggled quietly, "And trying." Maxine laughed aloud as he kissed her cheek and began travelling up to her ear.

"Your majesty, there's— Oh." Caspian and Maxine instantly stopped, looking to see Captain Drinian at the door. Maxine instantly jumped off the table, blushing deeply, not looking at the man as Caspian tried to straighten himself up. "I didn't mean to interrupt, sire, but we do require your presence on deck."

"Of course, Drinian," Caspian said, going out the door. Drinian looked back at Maxine, who avoided his eyes shamefully. The man only 'hmm'ed and shut the door behind him. Maxine let out a long stream of air, smoothing out the wrinkles Caspian may have put in the clothes she wore, and stepped out of the room, deciding to get some fresh air. She walked around the deck, smiling at Lucy when she came up to her.

"Hey," She greeted when she walked up to the young girl, "Where've you been? I thought you were right behind me and Edmund."

"Uh, that's a bit of a long story…" Maxine said, blushing slightly at the memory of what happened when Lucy and Edmund left the room. Not wanting her thoughts to linger on it, she changed the subject, "Lucy, I got a question for you." Lucy nodded, "That other kid who came with you… What was his name?"

"Eustace." Lucy said, Maxine nodded.

"Right, Eustace…" She said, thinking what a terrible name that was, "You said he's your cousin?" Lucy nodded, "And you're _related_ to that freak?"

"He's not a freak." Lucy said, Maxine gave her a look that said, 'Really?' "Okay, maybe he's a little odd, but he wasn't raised the same way we were."

"Lucy, I was 'raised'," She made quotes with her fingers, "By over a hundred different parents. I'm sure that at one point I was raised by the same parents he has."

"He never reads any fiction," Lucy said, "He has practically no friends, he only reads books on sciences and biographies, and his favorite past time is to pin bugs on walls." Maxine grimaced.

"Okay, maybe I haven't been raised like that." She said, Lucy laughed as they walked to the front of the boat, "What's the matter with him anyway? Still freaking out over the Narnia stuff?"

"No, he just got a little sea sick." Lucy said, "I gave him some of my cordial, he should be coming up soon." Maxine nodded.

"I see." She said, as they came to the head, Maxine noted delightfully that the front of the boat was shaped like a dragon's head, and there was a ladder leading up to the top of it. She and Lucy began to climb up it, hearing a song as they kept going.

"_Where sky and water meet,_

_Where the waves grow ever sweet,_

_Doubt not, you Reepicheep._

_To find all that you seek,_

_There is the utter east._" As the two girls came to the top, they saw Reepicheep standing on the dragon's nose, singing the song.

"That's pretty." Lucy said.

"Ah—! Oh!" Reepicheep jumped at the sound of her voice and turned around to see her and Maxine smiling at him. He smiled back and came over to the two girls, "Thank you. A dryad sung it to me when I was just a mouseling. I can't divine the meaning, but I've never forgotten the words."

"So, tell me, Reep," Maxine said, getting his attention, "What do you think is beyond the Lone Islands?"

"Well, I've been told the furthest east one can sail is to the end of the world; Aslan's country." Reepicheep said, Maxine raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"Do you honestly believe that sort of place exists?" She asked him.

"Well, we have nothing if not belief." Reepicheep said.

"…Do you really think you could sail there?" Lucy asked him. Reepicheep shrugged.

"Well, there is only one way of finding that out." He said, moving to go back to the tip of the dragon's nose, "I can only hope I will, one day, earn the right to see it." He smiled at the two, "Your majesties." He nodded in a sort of half-bow before going back to the dragon's nose. Lucy and Maxine shared a smile, and Maxine was about to climb back down, but Lucy stopped her.

"Max, look!" She pointed to the ocean and Maxine looked to see two beings made completely of water that resembled mermaids. They were diving through the water like dolphins, swimming alongside the ship. Every time they jumped out of the water, a small rainbow would shine through the droplets that fell off of them. One of them smiled at the two girls and waved at them. They waved back at her before diving underneath the water where they couldn't be seen.

* * *

><p>Maxine sat beside Lucy as they watched Edmund and Caspian engage in a friendly duel. The entire crew was watching as well as the swords of the two royals clashed together. Maxine watched as Caspian swung at Edmund, who easily dodged it and swiped underneath Caspian's leg, which he lifted up before the strike could land. The two circled each other in a sort of dance for a moment, their swords gleaming in the sunlight. Maxine cheered for Caspian, and Lucy cheered for her brother as they kept swinging at each other. Their swords connected in an 'X' and Caspian tried to maneuver the sword out of Edmund's hand, but he was prepared. The duel ended with their sword at the other's throat. The crew applauded the performance they had given, as did Maxine and Lucy. They pulled their swords away and Caspian clapped his hand on Edmund's shoulder.<p>

"You've grown stronger, my friend." He said.

"Seems I have." Edmund replied with a smile.

"All right!" Drinian's voice bellowed from the helm, "Back to work!" The crew went back to whatever job they had been doing previously, and Edmund made his way over to Maxine and Lucy. Maxine handed him a cup of water to drink.

"Thanks." He said, Maxine only nodded in return as he took a large gulp.

"Edmund," Lucy said, getting his attention, "Do you think if we keep sailing to the end of the world we'll just… tip off the edge?"

"Don't worry, Lu." Edmund assured as Eustace came out from below deck, "We're a long way from there."

"I see you're still talking nonsense, the two of you." He said, getting the attention of the three of them. He wrinkled his nose as he looked Maxine up and down, "And just who are _you_?"

"Max." She replied shortly, looking him up and down as well.

"Hmm, a masculine name for a masculine woman." He said, Maxine glared at him, looking ready to punch his lights out, but Lucy stopped her by putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Are you feeling better?" Lucy asked sweetly.

"Yes, no thanks to you." Eustace said, "It's lucky I have an iron constitution." Maxine and Edmund rolled their eyes.

"As effervescent as ever, I see." The four of them looked up to see Reepicheep climbing down the shrouds towards them, "Find your sea legs?"

"Never lost them." Eustace said quickly, "Simply dealing with the shock of things." Maxine shook her head with a smirk, shaking her head, "Mother says I have an acute disposition, due to my intelligence." At the mention of Eustace's intelligence, Edmund spat out some of his water into his cup in laughter. Lucy held back a giggle behind her hand, and Maxine smiled.

"I don't think he has a cute anything." Reepicheep said. Maxine let a laugh escape her throat at his words. He looked at her confusedly as she laughed.

"Oh, Reepicheep," She said, "You're so funny when you aren't trying to be."

"I'll have you know as soon as we find civilization, I'm contacting the British Consul!" Eustace said angrily, jabbing his finger at Maxine and Reepicheep as he walked away, "Have you all arrested for kidnapping!" He stopped when he bumped into someone's chest and looked up to see Caspian.

"Kidnapping, is it?" Caspian asked, stepping forward as Eustace stepped back. "That's funny. I thought we saved your life."

"You held me against my will!" Eustace cried.

"_Ha_!" Maxine and Reepicheep said at the same time.

"Did I?" Caspian asked with a laugh.

"In, what I must say, are the most _unhygienic_ quarters!" Eustace said, "It's like a— It's like a zoo down there!"

"He's quite the whiner, isn't he?" Maxine asked, turning to Edmund.

"He's just getting warmed up." Edmund groaned, taking another sip from his drink.

"Land ho!" A voice shouted, Caspian ran up to the helm, and Maxine, Lucy, and Edmund looked out over the side to see an island in the distance.

"That must be the Lone Islands!" Lucy said happily.

"_Finally_!" Eustace said, "When I contact British consul, you're all going to get what you deserve!"

"Free food and leaving you behind?" Maxine asked jokingly. Eustace scowled at her and stomped off.

"Bloody Americans…" He muttered, Max scowled.

"What was that?" She called at him, Eustace jumped, obviously not expecting her to hear him.

"Uh, nothing!" He said quickly, dashing away from her.

"That's what I thought." Maxine muttered, looking back at the islands.

* * *

><p>Maxine leaned over the railing as they came closer to the islands, not really noticing those around her. She looked down at the ocean, seeing the sunlight reflect off of the waves, and began to think about the previous day's events. She wondered about her mother, and her brothers and sister. She wondered if when she returned home, it would be like before, and she would just return to the place she came from, having no time pass at all. If that was true, she would end up back in the river, in the car, with the seatbelt stuck. She shivered at the thought of it. That had been one of the scariest moments in her life. She wasn't exactly looking forward to returning to the river.<p>

"Hello, Maxine." Caspian's voice said, she turned and saw Caspian standing to her side, "What are you thinking about?"

"How would you know if I was thinking?" Maxine asked him, "I could have just been spacing out."

"It's not that hard to tell when you're thinking." Caspian said, he reached up and brushed a lock of hair out of her face, his finger gently caressing her cheek, "When you are deep in thought, you tend to chew on the inside of your right cheek." Maxine looked at him in surprise.

"How did you know that?" She asked. Caspian leaned up against the railing with her, a light blush on his cheeks.

"I used to watch you when you thought I wasn't looking." Caspian said embarrassedly, looking away.

"You used to _watch_ me?" Maxine said in surprise, Caspian shrugged, "When was this?"

"When you first came to the castle," Caspian said, "Now, what is it you were thinking of?"

"Well…" Maxine said, turning back to the ocean, "Some things have changed since we last met."

"Such as?" Caspian asked.

"I found my parents." Caspian whirled his head to her in surprise.

"You found them?" He asked, Maxine nodded.

"Yeah, my mom is living a few hours away from me," She smiled slightly, "With my two younger brothers and younger sister."

"You have a family." Caspian said with a smile, Maxine nodded.

"Yeah," She frowned, "But she's too young to be the mother of an eighteen year old."

"How old is she?" Caspian asked.

"32." Maxine replied, "She was fourteen when I was born. Can you _imagine_? It must have been awful for her." Caspian nodded wordlessly, Maxine sighed, "And I know where my dad is, too."

"Where is he?" Caspian asked.

"Rotting in prison." Maxine said with a scowl, "My father was a sick man. A serial rapist and killer." She rested her head in her hand, "He _deserves_ to be in prison." Caspian put his arm around her shoulders in a one-arm hug.

"What is your mother like?" He asked, glad to see a smile on Maxine's face.

"She's amazing." Maxine said, "Did you know she never wanted to give me up? She wanted to keep me, she wanted to raise me herself. She was just too young to do it alone, and my grandparents wouldn't help her out because they wanted her to give me up. She tried to raise me on her own, but it didn't end so well." Caspian gently rubbed her arm.

"You must be very happy to have met her." He said, Maxine nodded.

"Very happy." She agreed.

"Your highness!" A voice called, the two of them looked to see Drinian calling to Caspian, "You should see this." Caspian and Maxine ran up to the helm, where Edmund was with him as well as Taveras the minotaur, looking out over the shore of the Lone Islands as they came closer to it. Drinian handed him a telescope to get a closer look at them, "The Lone Islands, the port of Narrowhaven."

"Strange," Caspian said, handing the telescope to Drinian, who handed it to Edmund, "Not a Narnian flag in sight."

"But the Lone Islands have always been Narnia's." Edmund said, before looking through the telescope.

"Seems suspicious." Drinian said, staring at the walls of the city.

"I say we prepare a landing party." Edmund said, he looked over at Drinian, who looked a tad awkward, "Drinian?"

"Forgive me, your majesty," Drinian said, "But the chain of command starts with King Caspian on this ship."

"…Right." Edmund said disappointedly.

"We'll use longboats." Caspian said, "Drinian, pick some men and come ashore."

"Aye." Drinian said with a nod. Caspian looked up at the minotaur, walking past him.

"Taveras, if you would." He said, the minotaur nodded and turned to the deck.

"Man the longboats!" He shouted, "Furl the sail and prepare to drop anchor!" The crew bustled about, doing as the minotaur had commanded. Maxine followed Caspian down the stairs to the deck.

"I'm coming with you." She said, Caspian stopped and turned around to her.

"No, you're staying here." He said, Maxine frowned.

"Caspian, after all this time," She began, "Are you still being so protective of me when I'm fully capable of taking care of myself?"

"Are you still on that?" Caspian asked as he kept walking, Maxine scowled and grabbed the back of his shirt, jerking him backwards so he would look at her.

"Hey!" She snapped, Caspian removed her hand from his clothes with a small, humorous smile.

"Maxine, I was only joking." He said, "If you wish to come, then you may come. I know you can take care of yourself." He kissed her forehead, "Go and prepare yourself, you may ride in the same longboat as me." He walked away and Maxine stood stunned for a moment, then she smiled to herself, going to the room Caspian had given her and Lucy to share to get her things.

* * *

><p>Maxine sat next to Caspian as the longboat was rowed closer to the shore of the island. Reepicheep sat comfortably at the head of the boat. Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace (Who still thinks there's a British consul in Narnia) sat in the very back of the boat as four other men rowed the boat across the waters.<p>

"Onward!" Reepicheep said happily as he jumped onto the docks of the island, "The thrill of the unknown lies ahead."

"Couldn't it have waited 'til the morning?" Eustace whined as everyone left the longboats.

"There is no honor in turning away from adventure, lad." Reepicheep said, talking as if he were explaining the world's most obvious thing to a child. Caspian came onto the land before Maxine and offered his hand to her. When she came onto the docks, she noticed something.

"Listen!" She said, everyone stopped and listened, "It's so quiet…"

"Where is everyone?" Lucy asked to the silence.

"Come on, Jelly legs." Reepicheep said, offering his paw to Eustace as he tried to get off the longboat.

"I'm capable of doing it myself!" Eustace snapped stubbornly. His legs shook uncontrollably and he fell onto the stone steps. Reepicheep sighed and rolled his eyes. Caspian watched the spectacle with a raised eyebrow.

"And you're certain he's related by blood?" He asked Lucy and Edmund. They looked back at their cousin as he clamored up onto the land and followed Caspian, Lucy, Maxine, and Edmund as they went closer to the entrance of the city. Caspian pulled out a crossbow and held it out, ready to fire if needed. Edmund and Maxine kept their hands on their swords, and Lucy kept hers on her dagger. Reepicheep scurried up ahead of them, looking around.

Everyone jumped when they heard the sound of a bell tower ringing somewhere in the city. Maxine pulled her sword out just the slightest bit as everyone began heading up the stairs to the city gates.

"Reepicheep," Caspian said, "Stay here with Drinian's men and secure the place. We'll head on. If we don't come back by dawn, send a party."

"Yes, your majesty." Reepicheep said, going over to join Drinian's men as everyone else, including Eustace, ran up towards the gates, weapons drawn and ready.

* * *

><p>Maxine looked around the city sadly, seeing all the boarded up windows, and seeing no people on the streets. The entire place had a creepy aura to it.<p>

"It's… like a ghost town…" She murmured quietly, Caspian nodded in agreement. They moved as quietly as they could through the city. As they came closer to a church, they knew what the ringing had come from. Maxine looked around for Eustace, seeing him looking through one of the boarded up windows, then running a little closer to them.

"Yeah, it looks like nobody's in." He said quickly, "So, d'you think we should head back?" Maxine raised an eyebrow at his blatant attempt to get them to leave. Edmund turned to him.

"Do you wanna come here and… guard… something?" Edmund asked, wanting to do anything to get his cousin to be quiet. Eustace nodded quickly.

"Ah, yes!" He said, running over to them, "Good idea, cousin. Very, um… logical." He stopped running, looking at them expectantly. Edmund looked at Maxine, who looked over at Caspian, who sighed and walked over to Eustace, giving him a long dagger to use as a weapon. He turned away so they could head back to the church, "I've got it. I've got it. Don't worry." Everyone gave Eustace a dry look when he said this, his back turned to them, holding out the dagger. They opened the door to the church and walked in. Maxine gazed around at it, seeing multiple large bells hanging from the ceiling. Alongside the walkway they were on were strange statues of headless kings holding out their own heads. "Uh, I'm ready to go when you are!"

Edmund held out his flashlight as they walked through the building. They all approached a table in the middle of the hall with small piles of large books on top of it. One of them was wide open, with lists of names and numbers, some of them scratched out.

"Who are all these people?" Lucy asked, seeing the names.

"Why have they been crossed out?" Edmund asked.

"It looks like some kind of… fee." Maxine said, looking at the numbers beside the names.

"Slave traders." Caspian said grimly. The bells in the church began to ring loudly, and everyone jumped up, on high alert. They saw men sliding down on the ropes for the church bells and coming around their group, surrounding them. Caspian shot one of the men with his crossbow, and he fell to the ground. Everyone else pulled out their blades and quickly engaged in the battle with the men. Maxine found herself fighting two men at once, which was a very difficult feat for someone who hadn't been sword fighting for very long. She did her best to block their blows, but she was mainly on the defensive side because of it. Their blows came too fast for her to do anything to strike back at either man.

A shriek rung out through the hall and everyone stopped, looking at the entrance where Eustace was being held by a man with a knife at his throat. The man shut the door behind him and pushed him forward.

"Unless you want to hear this one squeal like a girl again," The man said, "I'd say you should drop your weapons."

"Like a _girl?_!" Eustace cried out in offense.

"Now!" The man insisted, putting his knife closer to his throat. Lucy glared at the man as she threw down her dagger. Caspian put down his sword, and Maxine and Edmund threw down theirs.

"Eustace…" Edmund growled angrily.

"Put 'em in irons!" The man said to the others, who quickly followed their orders. Maxine was only partly compliant with the men as they put her hands in the cuffs, finding their hands were wandering a bit farther than she would have liked. The man holding Eustace hostage grabbed onto his ear and pulled him along.

"Get your hands off me!" Eustace cried, not doing anything to get away as he kept yanking at his ear.

"Let's take these three to the market," The man said, gesturing to Maxine, Lucy, and Eustace, "Send those two to the dungeons." He pointed to Edmund and Caspian. Maxine resisted as the men pulled her along, so, to get her to walk, one man grabbed at her behind and pushed her. She yelped and stomped on his foot.

"Ah! Damn!"

"Watch the hands!" Maxine snarled at him. Caspian saw this and glared viciously at the man holding Eustace hostage.

"Listen to me you insolent fool!" He growled at the man, "_I! Am! Your! King!_" He tried incredibly hard to get out of his grip, but the man wouldn't let up.

"Let him go, you bastards!" Maxine growled. One of the men holding her slapped her across the face.

"Sell her first," One of the men suggested, "Buyers love when they resist." Maxine and Caspian glared fiercely at the man.

"You're going to pay for that!" Caspian growled at him as the man grasped painfully at his arms.

"Actually," A voice said, they all looked to see a man dressed in elegant robes and fine jewelry coming towards them, "Someone _else_ is going to pay." A smug smirk came on his face, "For _all_ of you." They began dragging them away from each other, and everyone resisted the entire way.

"_Edmund_!" Lucy cried, trying to get to her brother.

"Lucy!" Edmund shouted back, trying to go to her.

Maxine shrieked as one of the men lifted her up in the air as she kept trying to run away. "Caspian!" She cried, "Caspian!"

"No! Maxine!" Caspian tried to get to her, but the slave traders had a good hold on both of them, "_Maxine_!" They dragged them out of the church, Lucy, Eustace, and Maxine being dragged to the slave market, and Caspian and Edmund being dragged to the dungeons.


	4. The Green Mist

4

Maxine let out an "Oof!" as the slave trader threw her onto the ground. They quickly chained her to the wall, putting cuffs around her wrists, and a large one around her neck, doing the same to Eustace and Lucy. The man who chained Maxine grinned at her.

"You're sure to sell for a good price." He said, patting her cheek. Maxine glared at the man and tried to bite his hand, but he pulled away too quickly for her to do anything. So, instead, she spat in his face. The trader groaned and wiped away the spit in distaste, "You better be worth the money we sell you for." He walked away from the three of them, leaving them chained to the wall. Maxine looked to see they weren't the only ones, for dozens of people, and a few Narnians, had been chained up like they had.

She suddenly heard the sound of sobbing and she and Lucy looked over at Eustace, he had started crying. "I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry…!"

"You should be!" Maxine snapped angrily, "If you hadn't come with us, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Max!" Lucy hissed.

"Well, it's true." Maxine grumbled like a child, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Just calm down," Lucy said, "If we clear our heads, maybe we can come up with a plan."

"_Calm down_?" Maxine said incredulously to the girl, "Lucy, do you not see the _chains_ on our wrists, and around our _necks?_!" She waved her chained wrists in Lucy's face, "How can _anyone_ be calm in this situation?"

"I'm sorry…!" Eustace sobbed, Maxine kicked his leg.

"Eustace, as great as it is to see you crying, it's getting real old real fast so will you just shut up?" Maxine snapped testily. She sighed to herself and looked up at the darkening sky. "God knows what's happening to Ed and Caspian right now."

"Max, stop worrying," Lucy said, "It's just until the morning, remember? Caspian told Reepicheep if we weren't back by dawn to send a search party. Reepicheep hasn't let us down before, and I doubt he's going to start now."

"Luce, in all fairness," Maxine said, "We could be sold off to someone by morning."

"I never wanted this to happen…!" Eustace sobbed, Maxine kicked him again.

"Eustace, shut up." She said, she looked back up at the darkening night sky, "God, I hope they're okay." She felt her heart clench painfully at the thought of Caspian being in trouble.

* * *

><p><em>The next morning…<em>

Caspian kicked at the door of the dungeon he and Edmund were locked up in, waking him up. Caspian turned to him, "You alright?"

Edmund pushed himself up from the floor where he had slept the previous night. He looked around the dungeon, which was practically bare except for a tall, wooden pillar with ropes loosely hanging from it. He mentally cringed when he saw the dried spots of blood along the wood. "Yeah." He looked at Caspian as he kicked the door again, unsuccessfully getting it open.

"It's hopeless." A voice said to them. Caspian stopped and turned in the direction it had come from, "You'll never get out."

"Who's there?" Edmund demanded, walking closer the darkness the voice had come from.

"Nobody." The voice said desolately, "Just a voice in my head…" Caspian walked closer, and a form made its way out of the darkness and into the light from a window in the dungeon. An old, wrinkled up man with a long beard, and drooping, tired eyes. Caspian looked over the man, recognizing some of his features from the sketches on his wall.

"Lord Bern." He said, the man made a curious face.

"Perhaps once," Lord Bern said, "But I'm no longer deserving of that title." Edmund looked over at Caspian.

"Is he one of the seven?" He asked, Caspian nodded and went closer to the man so he could he could get a better look at his face, coming into the same light Lord Bern was in. Lord Bern squinted his eyes as he examined Caspian's face.

"Your face…" He murmured, "You remind me of a king I once loved well." A small smile flitted onto Caspian's face at the mention of his father.

"That man was my father." Caspian said, Lord Bern's eyes widened, and his hands began to shake.

"Oh my Lord…" He murmured, his voice shaking as much as his hands. He dropped down to his knees in front of Caspian, "Please, forgive me…!"

"No, please." Caspian said, pulling him up from the floor. Edmund looked up at the window when he heard the sound of horses whinnying loudly, and someone crying out. He climbed up and looked through the window, seeing a cart of people in chains being pulled by two horses. A man ran towards the cart, reaching his hand out for a woman, calling her name. A little girl ran behind him, calling out for her mother. When the man reached the cart, he tried to take her hand and pull her off, but a guard pushed him away from the cart and knocked him to the ground. The little girl still ran, but the mother shouted out to her.

"Stay with daddy!" She cried to the little girl, who stopped running beside her father.

"Don't worry!" The man shouted to her, "I'll find you!"

"_Mummy_!" The little girl cried out, her father held her back as she began to cry, rocking her in his arms. Edmund watched as they reached the docks, pulling the people off and into a longboat with no oars in it. Caspian came up next to Edmund to see what was happening. He turned back to Lord Bern.

"Where are they taking them?" He asked.

"Keep watching." Lord Bern said. He did just that and watched as they pushed the boat off of the docks. The people had been chained to the sides of it, with weights at their ankles so they wouldn't jump off the boat. Dark clouds suddenly began rolling in, covering a small body of water in between the islands. From the shadow of the clouds came a green mist, and the people in the boat began to scream out in fear of it. The mist quickly engulfed the boat, and then it stopped, receding into the shadow of the clouds and disappearing. The boat and everyone who was in it was gone.

"What happened?" Caspian asked once it was over.

"It's a sacrifice." Lord Bern explained solemnly.

"Where did they go?" Caspian asked him. Lord Bern shook his head.

"No one knows." He said, Caspian and Edmund jumped down from the window and stepped up to him as he kept speaking, "The mist was first seen in the east, reports of sailors and fishermen disappearing out at sea. Three lords made a pact to find the source of the mist and destroy it! They each set sail… but none came back. You see, if they don't sell you to the slave traders, you're likely to be fed to the mist."

"We have to find Lucy and Max." Edmund said, "Before it's too late."

* * *

><p>"I bid 60!"<p>

"I bid 80!"

"100 for the little lady!" Different men shouted out bids for Lucy as she stood on the podium, still bound by chains around her wrists, and neck.

"120!" Another man called out.

"150!" Another buyer shouted. Maxine watched in disgust as Lucy was bid on like an auction piece.

"Any more bids?" The man next to Lucy asked. A few groans went out from the crowd, apparently, Lucy wasn't worth more than 150 of Lone Island currency. "Sold!" The man put a 'sold' sign around her neck and pulled her away from the podium. When a man tried to push Maxine up, she elbowed his gut and tried to run. She knew it was effortless, but if she could just buy some time for them before Reepicheep and the search party showed up, that would be enough. She let out a cry when she was caught by a man and punched in her stomach by the one she had elbowed.

"She needs a bit of… obedience training." The man said to the one holding her. Maxine felt her blood run cold at the sight of his grin as he nodded. The one who had punched her sent some sort of signal to the other before they started dragging her off somewhere. Lucy looked after her worriedly, Eustace just looked terrified for what was going to happen to him. He was right behind Maxine in the line-up, so he was next to be sold. He was pushed up onto the podium.

"And now, for this… fine specimen." The man said gesturing to Eustace, "Who'll king off the bidding?"

* * *

><p>"Come on, move!" One of the traders said as he pushed Edmund and Caspian out of the dungeons, their hands bound in chains. "Move!" The two moved as the two men commanded them to, not noticing the two men dragging the writhing Maxine in their grasp into the dungeon that they had just been in.<p>

"Get _off_ me!" Maxine shouted at them. Caspian stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around, seeing her being dragged in, "You're gonna be sorry for this!"

"Maxine…" He breathed, he ran towards her, but the traders stopped him, "Maxine!" She turned her head at the sound of his voice and saw him struggling against the traders. She tried to get to him as well, but the traders had a strong hold on her as well.

"Caspian!" She cried, she reached for him, as he did, but they were too far apart for their hands to meet. She was dragged into the dungeon room. She let out a cry when she was thrown onto the floor of the dungeon. She glared at the men as they pulled her wrists forward, undoing the chains and bringing her over to the wooden pillar in the room, and trying her hands into the ropes. Maxine moved her head when she heard the sound of a whip. She turned to see one of them holding a long, black leather whip, still wearing that sick grin.

"I'm going to enjoy this." He said. The other man put an identical grin on his face as he walked over to Maxine, ripping the back of her shirt, exposing the skin on her back.

"What's this?" The man asked, pulling up the back of her bra.

"What does it matter?" The other said, "It's going to break, anyhow. Now stand aside. You don't want to get in the way." The man moved aside while the other one held the whip, "Tell me, girl. Who is your master?"

"Definitely not _your_ fat ass!" Maxine snapped.

"Oh, I'm _really_ going to enjoy this." He said, raising the whip up and bringing back down so it would hit her skin. Maxine grit her teeth. She was not going to give this man the benefit of hearing her in pain, even if it did hurt like hell.

* * *

><p>"Come on, now!" The man auctioneering Eustace off said to the crowd of buyers, none of whom had made any bids. "He may not look like much but, uh…" He squeezed Edmund's arm, feeling the nonexistent muscle there, "He's strong."<p>

"Yeah, he's _strong_, alright," One of the buyers said, "Smells like the rear end of a minotaur." The crowd laughed.

"That is an _outrageous_ lie!" Eustace cried out offendedly, "I won the school hygiene award, two years running!" The buyers laughed again, but the auctioneer smiled a little as he realized Eustace was selling himself.

"Come on!" He said to the crowd, "_Someone_ make a bid!"

"I'll take them off your hands." A man said, stepping forward in a deep, blue robe, Eustace curiously noticed that his mouth didn't move as he spoke, "I'll take them _all_ off your hands!" The man lifted up his hood to reveal that it was Drinian, with Reepicheep on his shoulder, "For Narnia!" Men who were wearing the same robes threw them off and drew out their swords, attacking the slave traders while the buyers ran off. Caspian, Edmund and Lord Bern had been passing by when the fight had begun, and they took advantage of it by disabling the guards and getting them out of the way. The guards fought back, slicing their swords at them, and they avoided them and struck back as best they could. In the middle of the fight, Reepicheep used his sword to pick the locks on Lucy's chains. When they were released she smiled at the mouse.

"Thanks, Reep, I knew I could count on you." She said.

"Your majesty," Reepicheep said with a bow, instantly jumping back into the fray. Lucy picked up one of the books that documented who had been sold and used it as a weapon against the slave traders. Caspian and Edmund made good use of the chains around their wrists, Edmund using his to stop one of the traders by putting the chains around his neck in a sort of sleeper hold.

"The keys!" He said to Lord Bern, "Get the keys!" The old man did as Edmund requested and unlocked his cuffs. After Caspian had taken out the trader that he was battling, he was given the keys as well. He and Edmund took their weapons from the slave traders and ran down to join in the battle finding that some of the citizens who had been hiding away joining into the fight, taking out as many of the slave traders as they could. In all of the scuffle and fighting, nobody noticed Eustace slipping away.

He ran down to the longboats, quickly climbing in and sitting down, looking around the boat. When nothing happened, he took the seat opposite where he had been sitting previously. He didn't notice the head of the slave traders running away like he was, getting close to the docks. Eustace looked at the boat exasperatedly.

"Oh, you're a boat in a magical land. Can't you row yourself?" He asked it irritably, hating the idea of having to row the boat on his own. The head slave trader saw him, and a plan formed in his mind. He reached into his robe and pulled out a curled knife, creeping towards Eustace with it raised high. The boy tried to put the oars in place on the boat, confused as to how it should be done. He raised it up, deciding to put it in the opposite way he had tried to do, but he underestimated the weight of the oar, and he ended up stumbling with it in his hands, losing some of his balance. He spun around, when he did, the oar hit the slave trader's head, effectively knocking him over and into the water. Eustace dropped the oar in shock at what had just happened.

"Oh, God," He said, "I hope that wasn't the British Consul."

* * *

><p>Caspian looked around, seeing that the people of the islands seemed to have the situation with the traders under control. He looked around for the woman he loved, but couldn't find her. Then he remembered where he last saw her. He began to worry, and turned to Edmund.<p>

"I'm going to find Max!" He said, Edmund nodded.

"I'll come with you." He said, following his friend to the dungeons. As they came closer to the cell they were held in, they heard cries of pain. Caspian's blood ran cold when he realized it was Maxine. He ran a little faster and he burst through the dungeon door. His blood went from ice cold in fear to boiling hot in anger when he saw the two slave traders, one of them holding a whip, and Maxine on her knees facing a pillar of wood, with her hands bound to it. He saw red and drew his sword, letting out a wild cry and attacking the two of them. Once they were both incapacitated, he went over to Maxine, his heart clenching painfully in his chest at the sight of her exposed back. There were scars all over it, and she was bleeding profusely. He came over to her, releasing her wrists from the ropes and putting his arm around her, careful of her back. She looked up at him, and saw her cheeks, eyes, and nose were red from crying. He gently put his hand on her cheek, tucking some of her hair behind her ear with the utmost care.

"Caspian…" Caspian felt his heart breaking at the sound of her weakened voice. She grasped his shirt and leaned into him. He took her in his arms, his arms barely touching her back, and held her close, shushing her.

"It's alright," He soothed, smoothing his hand over her hair, "You're safe now." He kissed her forehead softly, and she stayed close to him, nuzzling her face into his chest. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, before shakily trying to stand. Caspian instantly helped her, letting her lean on him as they walked. Edmund took a cloak from one of the slave traders and put it around Maxine's shoulders to hide her back.

"We'll get Lucy's cordial," Caspian said, "You're going to be fine. I promise."

"They tried… to make me think… they were my masters…" Maxine mumbled as they walked out of the dungeons. Caspian felt a little relief when he saw Maxine smile up at him, "But I never gave in…"

"I'm glad." Caspian said, holding her body close to his as they walked out of the dungeons.

* * *

><p>Caspian, Maxine, Lucy, and Edmund walked through the streets of Narrowhaven. The people cheering for them and the Dawn Treader crew as they prepared to leave.<p>

"Your majesty?" A voice called out from the crowd, Caspian looked to see a man coming towards him, "Your majesty!" He recognized him as the man who had run after his wife just that morning.

"Hold it!" Drinian stopped him from going any further.

"My wife was taken just this morning," The man said, Maxine saw a little girl run up behind him, "I beg you, take me with you."

"Gale!" A woman said as the little girl grasped onto her father.

"I want to come." She said to him.

"No, Gale, stay with your aunt." The man said, pushing her towards the woman who had called out for her. He looked back to Caspian, "I'm a fine sailor. Been on the seas my whole life."

"Of course," Caspian said with a smile, he clapped his hand on the man's shoulder, "You must." The man smiled widely at him.

"Thank you!" He said happily, his little girl came up to him again.

"But, Daddy—!" He stopped and looked down at her.

"Have I ever not come back?" He asked, his daughter shook her head, and he hugged her, kissing her cheek, "Now, be good." She nodded once, and her aunt rushed up to her taking her in her arms and walking away. Maxine had seen the exchange between them, and felt slightly saddened that her father wasn't like that. Then again, if her father had stuck around, she wouldn't have been much better off than where she was at that moment. Caspian, who was walking next to her, noticed her expression and gently rubbed her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked, Maxine nodded.

"Just a little jealous." She said with a small smile, Caspian frowned and looked back at where the man and his daughter had spoken. He reached down and took her hand, linking their fingers together.

As they walked towards the longboats, another voice shouted out to them, "My King!" Caspian looked to see Lord Bern coming towards him, carrying a barnacle-covered object in his hands, "My King!" Caspian walked over to him, as did Edmund, Maxine, Lucy, and Drinian. Lord Bern held out the sword to him, "This was given to me by your father. I hid it safely in a cave, all these years."

"That's an old Narnian sword." Edmund said recognizing the style the sword was shaped in.

"Indeed, it's from your golden age." Lord Bern said, "There are seven such swords, gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia. Your father entrusted them to us." He held out the sword to him, "Here, take it. And may it protect you." Caspian took the old sword from him and gazed at it for a second, then looked back at Lord Bern.

"Thank you, my lord." He said, "And we will find your lost citizens." Lord Bern nodded and Caspian started walking towards the longboats, with Maxine on one side, and Edmund on the other. "Edmund." The High King looked over at Caspian and he handed him the sword with a smile. Edmund took it from him and gazed at it. Maxine smiled at Caspian as they loaded into the boats.

"That was nice of you." She commented as he sat down next to her.

"Well, he does not have a sword of his own," Caspian said, "I thought it only fit that I give it to him." Maxine smiled and linked their fingers together again as everyone else prepared to leave.

* * *

><p>To celebrate the victory that night, one of the fauns on the ship took out their pipes and began to play a lively tune on them that everyone danced to. Lucy laughed as she and Edmund danced together, performing a sort of polka dance. Maxine was happily twirled around in Caspian's arms around the deck, smiling the entire time. The crew around them clapped in time to the music, some joining in to dance, some not. Everyone was having a fantastic time, it seemed.<p>

Well, not entirely _everyone_.

Eustace sat in the corner, scowling at everyone that passed by him. It looked like he had no interest in the little party at all. Maxine noticed this, and frowned. She snuck away from Caspian, and she walked over to Eustace, propping her hands on her hips as she looked at him.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, seeing a small book in his hands.

"It's none of your business, now is it?" Eustace sneered, not looking up from what he was writing. Maxine gave him a dry look, but held back the insult she wanted to say.

"Why don't you join in the fun?" She asked, moving to sit on a barrel next to him.

"I don't think so." Eustace said, "I'm not going to waste all my energy on a dance that will give everyone the chance to step on my feet. The music is terrible, anyway, far too happy and sentimental." Maxine frowned. _Okay, no more nice Max for this kid._

"Aww, is someone still cranky because they didn't find the British Consul?" She cooed in a baby voice. Eustace looked up at her incredulously, and she laughed, "Oh, come on, lighten up. It's a party! Go and dance, have some fun for once in your miserable life." Eustace tucked his diary in his sock and stood up, looking rather offended.

"I'll have you know that my life was perfectly happy until my wretched cousins came to stay." Eustace said. He stalked away from her, and she frowned.

"Jeez, touchy." She muttered. She jumped when someone kissed her cheek.

"You left me dancing alone." Caspian said with a smile. She smiled back and took his hand.

"I just wanted a little break." She said, quickly joining him in dancing once again.

* * *

><p>Maxine snuggled comfortably into Caspian's side as they sat up on the deck, long after most of the crew had gone to sleep. Caspian smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, looking up at the stars in the night sky. Maxine sighed happily.<p>

"I missed this." She said, Caspian smiled.

"As did I." He said, his fingers lightly trailing against her arm. Caspian felt his skin tingling when Maxine drummed her fingers against Caspian's chest. Maxine smiled as she felt his muscles hiding under his shirt.

"Caspian, how old are you now?" Maxine asked, "I just realized that after all the time I've spent on this boat, I have no idea how old you are."

"I am twenty one." Caspian said.

"Lucky." Maxine said, "Back home, that's legal drinking age. You could sneak me into a bar and get me, like, wine or something." Caspian looked down at her.

"Have you never had wine, Maxine?" She shook her head.

"No, Susan doesn't keep alcohol in the house." Maxine said, "Says it kills brain cells and makes you puke, which it totally does, but I still want to try it."

"We could have some now." Caspian said, Maxine looked up at him, "There is some wine in the galley."

"Seriously?" Maxine asked happily, jumping up, "Well, let's go!" Caspian laughed at her enthusiasm as she grabbed his hand and they went below deck to the galley. Caspian went through some of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of some spiced wine. Maxine smiled as he poured her a glass.

"Cheers." Caspian said, clinking their glasses together.

"Cheers." Maxine said with a smile. They took a sip of the liquid. Maxine licked her lips when she had swallowed it, "That's pretty good, although…"

"Although what?" Caspian asked.

"I thought there would be something of a… buzz to it." Maxine said, she shrugged, "Media's hyped it up, I guess."

"Well, you know, this wine isn't alcoholic." Caspian said, "I didn't exactly think it was best to have on a long voyage, so I had only spiced wine. It tastes the same as any other Narnian wine."

"Oh, you tricked me." Maxine said, lightly smacking his chest, "I thought you had actual booze." Caspian laughed.

"No." Caspian said, "I didn't want to deal with any drunkards while we traveled, so I made sure there wasn't anything alcoholic."

"Cheater." Maxine said, sitting down at one of the tables in the galley, Caspian sat across from her. She shrugged, "But it's still pretty good, brain-killing or not." Caspian laughed as she took a gulp from her glass. She smiled back at him. The two of them simply chatting quietly to pass the time, enjoying each other's company, until Maxine yawned.

"Tired?" Caspian asked. Maxine shrugged.

"Maybe a little." She admitted. Caspian took her empty glass from her and put up the spiced wine.

"Then you should get to bed." He said, coming back over to her. Maxine held out her arms.

"Carry me." She ordered, Caspian chuckled.

"Well, since you asked _so_ politely…"

"_Please_ carry me?" Maxine tried again.

Caspian smiled, "Much better." He reached down, picking her up in his arms and carrying her up to her room. Quietly opening the door, so as not to disturb Lucy, who was already sleeping in the bed. Caspian carried her over to the empty side of the bed and lay her down on it. He looked at her eyes, and found he couldn't leave her just yet. He stayed over her, his brown eyes staring at hers, and soon found himself leaning down and putting her lips against his in a sweet kiss. Maxine kissed him back, putting her hand on his cheek, her fingers slowly trailing over his beard. Caspian pulled away all too soon and smiled at her, whispering, "Goodnight, Maxine."

"Goodnight, Caspian." Maxine whispered back, still holding out her hand as Caspian left her side, quietly shutting the door behind him. Maxine sighed and put her hand down once he was gone. She reached up, pulling off the shoes she was wearing, and tucked herself into the bed. Her dreams that night, filled with the image of the handsome king she loved so very much.


	5. Eustace had FUN?

5

_Dear Diary,_

_There's been an extraordinary turn of events. I've been abducted by my cousins, and set adrift in uncharted waters in some ridiculous looking boat. What's worse, is I share a quarters with an obnoxious mouse-thing. And I thought bunking with my cousin was bad enough. So far, every person I've met in this strange place suffers from the most florid delusions. Chasing green mists and looking for lost lords._ Eustace looked up from where he was sitting on the ship up at Caspian and Drinian, who were going over a map. _I can only assume that this is the result of poor diet. Or they're all just barking mad. _He looked at where Lucy sat about twenty feet away from Eustace, sewing up a rip in the vest she had made the other day from when Maxine had accidentally cut her with a knife when she and Edmund were fooling around in the galley. _Cousin Edmund is no exception. He spends every spare second rubbing that tin sword of his like it's some magic lantern. Poor fool __clearly__ needs a hobby._ Eustace looked over at where Edmund was cleaning the barnacles off of the sword, Maxine beside him, fiddling with one of the broken-off barnacles as Reepicheep scurried up to them, looking at the sword.

_Then there's this American girl, Max. She must suffer from the worst of these delusions. She spends almost her entire day with the supposed "King" Caspian, talking of strange things. They discuss things about Cousin Susan as if she were an old hag, and then they talk about other things I've never heard of. She mentioned some strange device called a 'blender' and explained to that king how it turned fruit into mush with the push of a button. The Americans must be terribly useless people if they spend all day thinking of devices that turn things into baby food instead of new war weapons to fight the Germans._

"It's going to be magnificent." Reepicheep said, "Do they come in a… smaller size?" Edmund and Maxine smiled at the mouse.

"I'm going to see if I can grab a drink." Maxine said, she held out her arm, "Care to join me, Reep?"

"With pleasure." Reepicheep replied, scurrying up her arm to rest on her shoulders as she walked. Eustace watched as they went below deck.

"Peeving marmot…" Eustace muttered once they were gone, "He's even more deluded than my cousin." A seagull flew down onto the barrel in front of him, cawing slightly. "In England we have mousetraps and that sort of thing." The seagull's head only twitched as Eustace lowered his voice slightly, "Speaking of, you don't know where I could get any, do you?" The seagull only cawed again.

"Uh…" Eustace looked up to see Taveras and another crew member looking down at him from above on a small balcony, "Why are you talking to that bird?" Eustace looked between him and the seagull.

"Well, I just naturally assumed he could—" He was interrupted by Taveras's laughter.

"He's talkin' to birds!" Taveras laughed.

"He's mad as a loon, that one!" The crew member laughed in agreement, hitting his stomach.

"Yeah!" Taveras said, hitting the other man on his back, not realizing he had almost sent him over the railing of the ship. Eustace glared at the seagull and shooed it away with a scowl as he went back to writing in his diary.

* * *

><p>Maxine sighed as she sat next to Edmund, holding a cup of water in her hands as he kept taking barnacles off of the sword. Lucy was next to him, still sewing up her vest, seeming to be very engrossed in the task. Edmund looked over at her and saw her swirling the water in the cup with a bored expression on her face.<p>

"Something wrong?" Edmund asked, Maxine shrugged.

"I don't know," She said, "I'm just really bored."

"Well," Edmund began with a sly grin, "You could always go and _snog_ Caspian to pass the time." Maxine punched his shoulder, "Ow!"

"You shut up!" Maxine snapped, she crossed her arms across her chest, "Believe me, if I could, I would, but he's busy."

"So you admit that you would?" Edmund asked, that grin still on his face.

"Don't make me hit you again!" Maxine threatened, raising her fist. Edmund flinched and she smirked, punching his shoulder twice, "Two for flinching." Edmund rubbed the spot where she hit him. "All I'm saying is, unless we find land anytime soon, I'm going to be bored out of my mind for the rest of this trip."

* * *

><p>Eustace quietly went down the stairs to the galley, careful to avoid the crew members who were talking a few feet away. He snuck past them and over to where the rations were kept. He headed over to a basket, and saw a ripe orange sitting inside of it. He grabbed it and stuck into his shirt through his collar.<p>

"Are you aware," A voice began, making Eustace jump in fear, crashing into some of the pots and pans hanging on the wall, "Stealing rations is a capital offense at sea." Eustace looked around for the voice, but saw no one. Reepicheep climbed over a basket so Eustace would see him, "Up. Here." Eustace looked up and saw him with his paws crossed across his furry chest and glaring down at Eustace.

"Oh, you." Eustace said, walking away from the mouse, keeping his eyes down. Reepicheep looked at him incredulously and scurried across the top of the galley shelves so he could be ahead of him.

"Men have been _keelhauled_ for less!" He said, warning him of what would happen.

"For what?" Eustace asked, doing a very bad job of playing dumb.

"For treason!" Reepicheep said, "For… sneakiness, and…! General nuisancery—! Look," He held out his paw, "Hand over the orange and we'll let the matter pass."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Eustace said, walking away again. Reepicheep shook his head exasperatedly and ran ahead of him again.

"Allow me to clari—!" He gasped when Eustace grabbed his tail.

"Look, I've had quite enough of you!" Eustace said.

"Unhand the tail." Reepicheep commanded in a dark voice as he pulled out his sword, pointing it at Eustace's face, "The great Aslan himself gave me this tail. No one, repeat, _no one_. Touches the tail. Period. Exclamation mark." Eustace released the tail from his hands, holding them up in surrender as he stared at the tip of Reepicheep's sword.

"Sorry." He apologized quickly.

"Now," Reepicheep began, "I will have the orange, then," He hooked his tail around a large knife (It was almost the length of a small sword) and threw it up in the air, having Eustace catch it, "I will have _satisfaction!_" Eustace, realizing he was challenging him to a duel, quickly became nervous.

"P-Plea-Please! I'm a pacifist!" He begged.

"_En guarde_!" Reepicheep said, swiping his sword. Eustace did the only thing he knew to do in this situation.

He ran.

He ran out of the galley and up the stairs, heading out onto the deck. His sudden appearance got Maxine and Edmund's attention, especially after he bumped into Taveras. He ran through a group of crew members, causing them to drop some of the things they had been carrying.

"Trying to run away?" Reepicheep asked as he ran along the railing of the boat. He grabbed onto a rope and swung across to land on a barrel in front of Eustace, "We're on a _boat_, you know." He pulled out his sword and pointed it at him.

"Look," Eustace said, "Can't we just discuss this?"

Reepicheep sliced his sword through Eustace's shirt, "_That_ was for stealing," He poked his sword in and pulled out the orange, "_That_ was for lying," He pulled the orange back and used it to slap Eustace in the face, "And _that_ was for good measure!" Eustace's hand shook as he held the large knife. He swiped it at Reepicheep and he jumped stylishly to another barrel, "That's the spirit!" He held out his sword towards the boy, "We have ourselves a duel! Catch!" He took the orange off the sword and flung it at Drinian, who easily caught it. "Now, come on. Take your best shot." Eustace jabbed his sword at the mouse and he dodged it, "Is that it?" He swiped at him and he jumped over it, "Come on, boy!" Eustace kept swiping at him again and again, and Reepicheep dodged each time, "Focus! Focus! Yes! Now!" Eustace's sword hit the railing and Reepicheep shook his head, "Stop flapping your wings like a drunken pelican! _Poise_! Keep your blade up. Up! Up! That's it, now." Eustace lunged for the mouse and he jumped over him onto his back and jumping off that to the barrel beside him. Eustace swiped at him again and he climbed up the shrouds. The knife struck the wooden holders and got stuck for a moment. Reepicheep used that moment to get away, jumping off his shoulder and onto a pulley, riding over to another barrel and turning to him, "_Yoo-hoo_! Over here!" Eustace yanked out the sword and turned to the mouse, "Now," Eustace lunged at him and he jumped over it, "Lunge with your _foot_!" He landed near Eustace's legs, "Not your _left_!" He struck his left leg, "Your _right_!" He struck his right leg and jumped up on the railing, "Got it? Come on. Be nimble. Be _nimble_! It's a dance, boy, a _dance_! Come on, now!" Eustace jabbed the knife at him, "Again!" He did it again, and he dodged, "And again!" He dodged another jab, "That's right! That's right!" He jabbed at him one more time and Reepicheep jumped back slightly, pretending he was losing his balance, his arms reeling back, "Oh, no!" He fell back and Eustace ran to the railing, looking to see if the mouse had fallen back in the water.

Reepicheep came up on the other side of the shrouds, grinning mischievously at Eustace, using his tail to tap his shoulder, making him turn around. "And _that_," He used his legs to push Eustace over, "Is that!" Eustace knocked over a basket when he fell, and Maxine noticed how a small shriek came from the basket. The crew applauded Reepicheep's victory as Maxine stood up straight, walking over to the basket with a suspicious expression on her face, Lucy walked with her. They saw two hands poke out as a girl crawled away from the basket.

"Look." Maxine said, getting everyone's attention, she recognized her as Rhince's daughter from Narrowhaven.

"Gale?" Rhince looked at his daughter in shock as she stood up and looked at her father, "What are you doing here?" She looked up at her dad, eyes shining from tears, like she was afraid she was in trouble. Rhince walked over to her, "Come here." He took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head comfortingly. He looked up as Drinian walked over to the two of them, the orange still in his hands. Gale looked up at him fearfully as he looked down at her. Drinian gave her a small smile.

"Looks like we have an extra crew member." He said, he held out the orange to her and she took it. Lucy smiled at Gale and walked over to her.

"Welcome aboard." She said.

"Your majesty." Gale said, curtsying politely to Lucy.

"Call me Lucy." She said, she took her under her arm, "Come on."

"Come on! Look lively!" A man shouted, having everyone get back to work. Eustace reached down for the knife and picked it up, taking it back to the galley.

"Good match." Reepicheep said as he passed him, "I'll make a swordsman of you yet." Then, a very rare thing happened.

Eustace smiled at him.

It quickly disappeared, though, as he said, "Yes, well… If the playing field were a little more even… It would have been an entirely different result." Reepicheep chuckled as he quickly walked away.

"Indeed." He said to himself, leaning back against the shrouds. Maxine watched him go below deck, then looked back at Edmund.

"You know, call me crazy," She began, "But I think your cousin had _fun_ just now." Edmund looked at where Eustace had disappeared, a smile coming onto his face.

"You know, I think you might be right." He said. The two teens looked at each other for another moment before bursting out into laughter.

* * *

><p>Maxine opened the doors to the navigational room Caspian had spoken to her in when she first came onto the ship. Caspian looked up from whatever map he was going over and smiled at her as she came in, conspicuously closing the door behind her.<p>

"Hey." She said as she came in.

"Hello." Caspian said, standing up. He crossed the room to go over to her, taking her in his arms.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Maxine asked, looking back at the map he had been looking at, "Because if I am, I won't bug you."

"No, you're not interrupting anything." Caspian assured, "I was actually just thinking of how perfect your timing was." Maxine raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, were you?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes, work is tiresome." Caspian said, "And what better way to spend a break than with pleasurable company?" He put his forehead against hers and Maxine smiled sultrily up at him.

"Hmm, you weren't thinking _naughty_ thoughts, were you?" She asked him coyly, pressing her body up against his. Caspian leaned closer to her, their lips almost touching.

"Perhaps…" He breathed, Maxine giggled.

"God, you are _so_ hot when you get like this." She said, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. He happily returned it, wrapping his arms around her back and pushing her chest up against his. Maxine wrapped her arms around his neck, one of her hands tangling themselves in his hair. Caspian's tongue ran along her lip and she opened her mouth, gladly letting his tongue rub up against hers. Caspian's hands traveled down to her behind, pushing her lower body against his. Maxine let out a small squeak when she felt Caspian's crotch against hers. She pulled away from their kiss for air, but Caspian kept going. He began kissing her jaw, going down to her neck. Maxine let out a small moan when he did this, and felt him smirk against her skin as he kept going down to her collarbone.

"You're really… getting into this…" Maxine panted, letting out another moan as he sucked on her collarbone. She felt her legs give out from under her, and Caspian held her close to him, making sure she didn't fall. Maxine let out a squeak of surprise when he picked her up and sat her on the table. He moved his lips back up to hers and she quickly engaged herself in the kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist to keep him to her. Caspian's tongue began to mingle with hers again, and Maxine sighed pleasurably. She snuck her hands under his shirt, and let her fingers trail along the skin of his abs. Caspian groaned in her mouth at the feeling, and put his own hands underneath her shirt, tracing patterns along the skin of her back, returning the favor. Maxine felt her insides warming up from Caspian's touch. He moved away and started kissing her neck again. Seventeen year old Caspian would have never done this, Maxine thought to herself, yet here was twenty one year old Caspian, sucking her neck more than a dehydrated vampire.

He suddenly pulled away, panting, as he looked at her. Maxine sighed exasperatedly.

"Are you stopping because you have to," Maxine asked, "Or are you just taking a breather?"

"Because I have to." Caspian specified as he pulled his arms away from underneath her clothes and stepping back. Maxine let out an exasperated huff.

"Okay, you may be hotter as you get older," She said, "But you're _still_ too polite for your own good." Caspian smirked at her as she got off the table, wobbling slightly as she stood up straight. "You could, at least, _ease_ out of the make-outs instead of stopping altogether. That makes it a lot easier on me." Caspian let out a small chuckle.

"Yes, well, next time, I will do just that." Caspian said. Maxine crossed her arms, leaning against the table as Caspian went back to the map he had been looking at previously.

"You know," She began, "The good thing about me coming back to an adult Caspian means you have a bigger sex drive, but because you're all gentlemanly, you're as jumpy as any other virgin boy." Caspian looked up at her.

"Maxine, I _am_ a virgin." Maxine looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, right, medieval era." Maxine said, "An unmarried twenty one year old virgin is normal."

"It's not normal back in your home?" Caspian asked, Maxine shook her head.

"No, actually, you'd get made fun of if you said you were a virgin and you're twenty one." Maxine said, "_Especially_ if you're a guy."

Caspian was about to respond when there was a knock on the doors. Edmund poked his head in, covering his eyes with his hand.

"If I'm walking in on snogging of any sort, tell me now." Edmund said, Maxine picked up a pen and threw it at him. He jumped when it hit his shoulder, smiling humorously at her.

"You make another crack like that again, Ed, and you're a dead man." She threatened, a small smirk on her own face.

"What is it, Edmund?" Caspian asked. Edmund smiled at him.

"It seems we've found the first uncharted island in the east." He said.

* * *

><p>Caspian looked at the island through a telescope, seeing all the trees along the coast line, "Looks uninhabited." He said, "But if the lords followed the mist east, they would have stopped here."<p>

"Could be a trap." Drinian said suspiciously, looking at the island.

"Or it could hold some answers." Edmund said. Maxine looked over at Caspian.

"What do you want to do, Caspian?" She asked him. Caspian put the telescope down.

"We'll spend the night on shore." He said, handing the telescope back to Drinian, "Scour the island in the morning."

"Aye, your majesty." Drinian said, heading over to the helm to bring it closer to the island. Caspian walked down to the deck and Maxine followed him. Edmund watched her go, as did Drinian.

"She's like his puppy dog." Edmund muttered, seeing as she followed him around. Drinian nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Maxine looked around the shore as she walked around the beach. Seeing that it was clear this beach had not been walked on for a long time. Or just recently, it was hard to tell on the lumpy, sandy ground. She went over to the longboat and pulled out everything she was going to need to camp out that night, smiling as she walked around to find a spot. Caspian noticed her good mood as she spread out a blanket on the ground next to a rock. Caspian came up next to her and smiled at her, she smiled back.<p>

"What has you in such a good mood?" He asked, Maxine shrugged.

"I don't know." She said, "I guess… it's the camping. It reminds me of when we stayed in the How."

"How does it remind you of the How?" Caspian asked.

"Sleeping on the ground." Maxine said, "God, that seems like so long ago."

"That's because it _was _so long ago." Caspian said.

"For you." Maxine specified as she put a small pillow down, "It's been three years for you, one for me, remember?" Caspian nodded.

"Right, I had forgotten…" He said quietly, Maxine looked up at him, hearing something out of place in his voice.

"What is it?" She asked, propping her hand on her hip.

"What is what?" Caspian asked.

"Something bugged you when I said it was three years for you and one for me," Maxine said, "What is it?"

"It's not important." Caspian said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Liar." Maxine said, Caspian avoided looking in her eyes, so she made him face her by putting her hands on both of his cheeks, "What's wrong?" Caspian sighed and reached up, holding both of her hands and bringing them away from his face.

"It's just… the time difference between our worlds is too great." He said.

"It's not _that_ bad." Maxine said.

"When the Pevensies came back the first time, over a thousand years had passed!" Caspian said, Maxine grimaced.

"Okay, maybe it _is_ pretty bad." She said, "But I don't see the problem. Why is that such a big deal?"

"It's just…" Caspian began, "What if, when you leave again, you come back to a much older version of myself?"

"Like… how old?" Maxine asked. Caspian shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but I could be thirty years, or perhaps fifty years when you return." Caspian said, "And you will only be _nineteen_. That would hardly be appropriate."

"Get to the point, Caspian." Maxine said.

"Perhaps… We should not be together." Caspian said. Maxine frowned, and lightly smacked his cheek, pulling away from him.

"I know that." She said to him. Caspian put his hand to where she had smacked him and looked at her confusedly.

"You know?" He asked, Maxine nodded.

"Yeah, I know." She said, sitting down on her blanket, looking up at him, "Look, I'm not saying I want you to stick around forever. I mean, you're going to be king for the rest of your life, while I'm going to be a middle-class woman for the rest of mine." She sighed, "What I mean is… Just stick with me until this adventure is over, then go find someone else." She looked up at him hopefully, and he gazed back at her. Finally, he sighed, smiling at her.

"It's very hard to say no to you when you make that face." He said, Maxine smiled at him as he brought over his own blanket and laid it down next to hers, "You don't mind if I sleep here, do you?"

"Of course not." Maxine said, lying down on her own blanket as Caspian prepared where he was going to sleep. Smiling as he lay down next to her, taking her hand and entwining their fingers.

* * *

><p>Later on into the dark night, while everyone slept peacefully on the shore. No one noticed how gigantic footprints suddenly began appearing on the shore, but the creatures who made them were not visible to anyone that would have happened to be awake.<p>

"Seems they brought a pig." A voice whispered in the night, commenting on Eustace's loud snoring. One of the giant footprints landed next to Lucy as she slept.

"This one," It whispered, "It's female." Another footprint landed beside Gale.

"So's this one." Another voice whispered. A large footprint landed near Caspian and Maxine, where they slept in each other's arms.

"This one is, too." A third voice whispered. Another footprint came next to the first one.

"No, that one's male." The fourth voice whispered.

"Not _that_ one," The third voice said, "I meant the pale one with brown hair."

"_Ohhh_." The fourth voice whispered. The book next to Lucy's head suddenly started levitating, opening up as if someone were going through the pages.

"This one _reads_." The one next to Lucy said, "Let's take her." Lucy awoke to the feeling of someone's hand on her mouth, and suddenly found herself being lifted up by arms that weren't there. She struggled and squirmed in their grasp, trying to get out while the creature began walking away with her, taking huge, leaping steps. She was carried through the forest of the island, through many different trees and bushes, and into what was either the strangest looking bushes ever created by nature, or someone's lovely garden. Finally, she was dropped on the ground and she scrambled up, looking around for her enemies when she heard them laughing, but saw no one. She quickly stood up, pulling out her dagger, only to have her enemy yank it out of her hands and throw it a few feet away from her. When she tried to run for it, she was pushed back and onto the ground.

"There is no escape." A deep voice told her as she scrambled back up.

"Well put!" Another voice said.

"Scary!" A third voice said.

"Yeah!" A fourth voice said.

"What are you?" Lucy asked, looking around for any sign of being able to see them.

"We are terrifying, invisible beasts!" A voice said.

"If you could see us," The deep voice said, "You would be really intimidated."

"Yeah." A voice agreed.

"Uh, you forgot to mention," Another voice said, "That we are very _large_!"

"What do you want?" Lucy asked them.

"You." The deep voice said, "You'll do what we ask."

"She will!"

"Very clear!"

"Well put."

"Yeah." Lucy stood up, looking in the directions the voices had come from.

"Or what?" She asked.

"Or _death_." The deep voice said, Lucy gasped quietly.

"Death?"

"_Death?_!"

"Death!"

"Death! Death! Death!" The voice chanted, stomping their feet.

"Well, I wouldn't be much use to you _dead_, now would I?" Lucy countered the voices. Their chants stopped.

"…I hadn't thought of that." The deep voice said.

"No, you hadn't."

"Fair point…"

"Alright!" A voice said, "Then we'll just kill your friends!" A chorus of '_Ooh_'s came from the voices around Lucy as she shut her eyes, trying not to think of her friends being killed by invisible beasts.

"Good idea."

"Yeah."

"…What do you want with me?" Lucy asked quietly, not liking these invisible voices at all.

"You will enter the house of," The owner of the deep voice pushed her in a certain direction, "The Oppressor."

"What house?" Lucy asked, not seeing any buildings in sight.

"This one." The deep voice said, Lucy's eyes widened as something opened before her, revealing the inside of a house. She looked at it in awe, trying to figure out how the doors were there when there was no house, "Upstairs, you'll find the book of incantations. Recite the spell that makes the unseen seen."

"Well put, Chief, well put!"

"Very."

"Yeah." Lucy walked around the entrance of the house, seeing nothing but gardens instead of a wall of some kind.

"Well? Go on, we haven't got all day!"

"Remember what will happen to your friends!"

"You've been _warned_."

"Yeah."

"Yeah…"

"Right." Lucy looked back to the invisible beings.

"Why don't you do it yourselves?" She demanded. The voices seemed to hesitate in telling her.

"…We can't read." The deep voice said.

"Can't write, either, as a matter of fact." Another said.

"Yeah."

Lucy looked around as if they were stupid (If she could have seen them).

"Why didn't you just say so?" She asked them, implying that if they had told her, she would have done it. They didn't have to threaten her friends.

"Beware the Oppressor!" A voice warned, "He's very oppressive!"

"What makes the unseen seen! Got it?" The deep voice asked.

"Don't forget!"

"Don't forget, now!"

"Yeah."

Lucy took in a deep breath and walked into the home of the Oppressor, the doors shutting behind her as she did.


	6. Lucy's temptation

6

Caspian's eyes slowly opened as the morning sun rose up. He looked down into his arms, and smiled when he saw Maxine sleeping soundly in his arms. The look on her face held no stress, just complete and total peace. He leaned down and placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead. She shifted slightly in her sleep, letting a small, sleepy sigh escape her lips as she snuggled into the warmth that was Caspian's body, her nose rubbing up against his chest. Caspian smiled and gently smoothed her hair, which had lengthened since the many years ago when he first met her. He fingered a lock of her hair. He liked the way she had matured since they last met. She looked more like a grown woman, in his opinion, but in spirit, he knew she was far from it. She still acted like the teenage girl he fell in love with.

He tried to move her away from her without waking her up, pulling his arms away slowly from her warm body. She frowned in her sleep and moved closer to his body, sleepily moving towards the warmth that he had provided before. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she looked up at Caspian through her lashes. He smiled down at her and she smiled back.

"Good morning…" She murmured sleepily.

"Good morning." Caspian said, "Did you sleep well?" Maxine nodded.

"Better than last night." She said, Caspian leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Maxine, do you mind if you let me up?" Caspian said, slightly moving the arm that rested under her. She looked at it and pushed herself up.

"Yeah." She said quickly, she stretched her arms as she sat up and Caspian stood up, stretching out his own limbs. He turned around and stopped when he saw large, unfamiliar footprints in the sand. Maxine looked up when he stood still, and saw the footprints as well. She instantly got up.

"Ed." Caspian hissed to the still sleeping Edmund, he went over and shook him, "Ed, wake up." Edmund let out a small groan and looked up at him, "Look." Edmund got up and looked around seeing the large footprints in the ground. He looked around, seeing as they went all around their campsite, and saw that they went over to his sister's sleeping spot.

"Where's Lucy?" He demanded, seeing that she wasn't there. He looked around the camp, calling out for her, waking up the other members of the crew as he shouted, "Lucy? Lucy!"

"Everybody up!" Reepicheep said to the crew, scurrying over to Maxine's side.

"Get up!" Drinian hissed, "Get up, I say!" Maxine and Caspian grabbed some chainmail and their swords.

"This way!" Maxine said, following the direction the footprints left in. Caspian walked beside her as they followed the footprints into the forests of the island. As they left, nobody noticed Eustace was still snoring loudly and sleeping soundly.

* * *

><p>The footprints led them to a large, intricate garden, where they disappeared against the short grass. They began to spread out, looking for any sign of the young queen. Edmund saw something glinting in the sunlight and went closer to it, finding something very familiar to him.<p>

"Guys," He said, getting Caspian and Maxine's attention, "Lucy's dagger." They went over to him when he held it. They were about to search more when, suddenly, spears were thrown at them from out of nowhere. Everyone was on their guard as they looked around for their enemies.

"Stop right there, or perish!" A voice threatened. Caspian was stunned as his sword was pulled from his hands, and he was knocked back by some invisible force. Maxine felt her own sword being pulled away, and when she tried to pull it back, something hit her head and knocked her back. When she went for her sword, she looked at it in awe as it seemed to float in mid-air for a moment, then was thrown away. She ran for it, and was knocked back by the same force once more. She looked around and saw the rest of the crew wasn't doing much better than her. She yelped when something grabbed the back of her shirt and began to pull her. Caspian heard her and ran towards her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the strange forces that were causing all this trouble and behind him.

"What sort of creatures are you?" Caspian demanded of them.

"Big ones." A deep voice said, "With the head of a tiger and the body of a… um…"

"Different tiger!" Another voice put in. Maxine's eyes squinted as she began to see the outline of the creature's bodies becoming visible.

"You don't want to mess with us!" The deep voice said.

"Or what?" Edmund asked, looking around at the creatures.

"Or I'll claw ya to death!" A voice said, Edmund looked in surprise when the creatures attacking them became visible. Maxine quirked an eyebrow when she looked at them, seeing that they were some sort of… dwarf-type things. The only difference between them and any other dwarf was that instead of two legs, they only had one big leg with one big foot. One was held up by another to make them seem taller.

"And I'll run my tusk _right_ through you!" Another one said as he became visible.

"And I'll _gnash_ you," The one with the deep voice said, "With my teeth!"

"And I'll _bite_ you with my fangs!" Another one said, bearing his teeth like an animal, but not seeming to be very intimidating at all.

"You mean," Maxine began with a smirk, "Squash us… with your fat bellies?"

"Yes!" One said, his smile fell when he realized what she had said.

"Fat bellies?" One asked, looking down at his round middle.

"Tickle us with your toes?" Caspian asked with a smirk of his own as he stared at their large feet. The one with the deep voice let out a shout as he suddenly fell from the two others that had been holding him up. Caspian and Maxine chuckled at the sight of him as he sat up. Edmund came over to him, wielding his sword.

"What have you done with my sister, you little pipsqueak?" He asked, pointing his sword at his throat. His eyes widened as he stared at the sword.

"Now… calm down." He said, his voice shaking slightly in fear.

"Where is she?" Edmund demanded.

"You better tell him!" One of them shouted at him.

"Go on, Chief, tell him." Another said.

"In the mansion." The man, apparently the leader of these creatures, said.

"What mansion?" Edmund asked, the leader's eyes pointed over to Edmund's right and he looked to see a large, beautiful mansion appearing in the garden, with vines covering its walls. Maxine looked at it in wonder, amazed at how strange the eastern areas of Narnia's world were. "_Ohhh_," He said when he saw it, "_That_ mansion."

"You know," A voice said, everyone turned to see Eustace coming out of the bushes, brushing off any leaves, "I'm really getting tired of you all leaving me behind—" He stopped when he saw the strange creatures and the mansion appearing.

"It's the pig!" One said, seeing Eustace.

"The pig's come back!" Another said.

Eustace looked at the small, one-footed men with an odd expression, "This place just gets weirder and weirder!"

"Weird?" One asked aloud.

"He's callin' _us_ weird?" Another asked.

Maxine heard footsteps and looked to see Lucy walking beside an older, bearded man dressed in elegant robes. The men started hopping away from him as he walked forward, calling him 'The Oppressor'. Some of them hid behind Edmund, Caspian, and Maxine in fear of the man.

"Lucy!" Edmund said happily when he saw her. The man beside her bowed respectfully.

"Your majesties." He said.

"Caspian, Edmund, and Max," Lucy said, "This is Coriakin. It's his island." The three of them bowed respectfully to the man.

"That's what _he_ thinks!" The leader of the creatures said. They looked at him as he spoke, "You have wronged us, Magician!"

"I have _not_ wronged you," Coriakin said, walking towards him, and he hopped away in fear, "I made you invisible for your own protection." He spoke to him as if he had explained it to him a thousand times.

"_Protection?_!" The leader said incredulously as he and the others kept hopping away.

"That's oppression!" One of them said.

"Oppressor!" Another shouted.

"I have not _oppressed_ you." Coriakin said in that same way, sounding a little exhausted by having to explain it.

"But you could've!" The leader said, "If you wanted to!"

"Be gone." Coriakin said, pulling something out of his pocket and throwing it at them. They all shouted in fear about magic spells and how it was 'going to make us more invisible than before!'

"What was that?" Lucy asked him.

"Lint." Coriakin said in a low voice and a small smile, "But don't tell them." Lucy smiled as he walked back to the mansion.

"What were those things?" Eustace asked the magician.

"Dufflepuds." Coriakin said.

"Right, of course, silly me." Eustace said sarcastically as he followed his cousins as they followed him into the mansion. As they walked through the halls, Maxine walked up to him.

"What did you mean when you said you made them invisible for their own good?" She asked him.

"It seemed the easiest way to protect them," Coriakin said, "From the evil."

"You mean the mist?" Edmund asked. Coriakin stopped just before they entered a room.

"I mean what lies _behind_ the mist." He said, he gestured for them to go in, and they did. Maxine looked around as they entered a library, smiling a little as she saw he was using magic to make some of his books levitate in the air. Behind them was an illusion of stars moving along the walls. Coriakin walked to the middle of the room, holding a large, long cylinder of paper. He threw it out, unrolling it to reveal that it was a map. It landed on the floor, and the map changed from drawings on paper to a miniaturized version of the ocean, with islands popping up out of it, and clouds floating above it. Along the corners of the map were pictures of a centaur blowing a horn, and an army racing off into battle.

"It's quite beautiful…" Eustace murmured, looking at it. Maxine, Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian looked at him in surprise, and when he saw them looking at him, he instantly scowled, "I mean for a make-believe map of a make-believe world." Maxine rolled her eyes at his words, smiling a little to herself.

"Here is the source of your troubles." Coriakin said, the map moved until it showed what looked like an island made entirely of dark clouds and sharp rocks, looking quite terrifying, "Dark Island, a place where evil lurks." Coriakin stepped out on the map, his feet making small ripples in the ocean's water without getting his feet wet, looking at Edmund, "It can take any form." He turned his gaze to Maxine, "It can make your darkest dreams come true." He turned to Caspian, "It seeks to corrupt all goodness. To steal all the light from this world."

"How do we stop it?" Lucy asked him. Coriakin turned to her.

"You must break its spell." Coriakin said, he turned back to Edmund, "That sword you carry," He pointed to the sword at Edmund's waist, "There are six others."

"Have you seen them?" Edmund asked.

"Yes." Coriakin said.

"The six lords," Caspian began, "They passed through here?"

"Indeed." Coriakin said, the clouds moving aside as he took a step towards him.

"Where were they headed?" Maxine asked him.

"Where I sent them." Coriakin said, the map began to move again and he stepped away from the map as another island came into view. Coriakin raised his hand and a blue, glowing orb appeared above the island, "To break the spell, you must follow the blue star to Ramandu's Island. There, the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table. Only then can their true magical power be released." Everyone shared meaningful glances, "But beware, you are all about to be tested."

"Tested?" Lucy asked, Coriakin turned to her.

"Until you lay down the seventh sword," He said, "Evil has the upper hand. It will do everything in its power to tempt you." He looked around at everyone in the room, "Be strong, don't fall to temptation." He walked to Caspian, "To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself." Maxine looked over at Caspian curiously, wondering why Coriakin directed this particular statement to the young king.

* * *

><p>"<em>That<em> doesn't look too good." Maxine muttered, looking at the huge expanse of dark, grey storm clouds ahead of them.

"Can we go around it, Drinian?" Caspian asked, looking at the captain.

"I'm afraid not," He said grimly, "This storm's far too large to simply go around it, and in these waters, it could take us back to Coriakin's island. Our best bet is to go straight through it."

Maxine sighed unhappily, "Great. I'll go warn Lucy and Ed." She walked away from the two men, heading over to where Lucy and Edmund had been speaking to each other.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Diary,<em>

_For reasons __beyond__ my comprehension, we've taken the advice of a senile old coot, who doesn't possess a razor and doddles around in a dressing gown. So, we're back in this tub, and lost in a tempest. __Brilliant._ As Eustace wrote in his diary below deck, the movements above deck could only be described as pure chaos. Six men were at the helm, maneuvering it as best as they could through the storm. Caspian tossed Edmund a rope as they helped out the crew in taking care of the sails. _14 days of being tossed around like a pancake, and not the slightest sign of land. The only consolation is everyone is finally as miserable as I am. Except for that show-off talking rat. He's one of those annoying 'glass is always half-full' types._ Reepicheep sat in the mouth of the dragon's head of the boat as it traveled through the huge waves, an excited smile across his furry face.

* * *

><p>In the navigation room sat Caspian, Edmund, Maxine, and Drinian. The captain had summoned them there to speak with them about their voyage thus far.<p>

"So," He began, putting a small cap on a map a little bit away from an 'X' on the map marked 'Coriakin', "We're stuck here." He turned to the three royals, "At half rations, and food and water for two more weeks, maximum." He grabbed on to part of the ship's ceiling as the boat lurched from a large wave, "This is your _last_ chance to turn back, your majesties." Caspian and Edmund shared meaningful looks, knowing the weight of his words, "There's no guarantee we'll spot the blue star anytime soon, not in this storm. Needle in the haystack, trying to find this Ramandu place. We could sail right past it and off the edge of the world."

"Or we could get eaten by a sea serpent." Maxine said, the three men gave her a dry look and she shrugged, "Just… trying to lighten the mood."

"I'm just saying," Drinian continued, "The men are getting nervous." He walked around to the other side of the table the map rested on, "These are strange seas we're sailin'. The likes of which, I've never seen before."

"Then, perhaps, Captain," Caspian said, getting up from where he sat and over to Drinian, "You would like to be the one to explain to Mr. Rhince that we're abandoning the search for his family." Drinian sighed.

"I'll get back to it." He said, referring to the crew. He picked up a robe and put it on, turning back to Caspian, "Just a word of warning. The sea can play nasty tricks on a crew's mind." He pulled up the hood on his robe, "Very nasty." He walked out of the room, and Edmund stood up.

"I think I'll go help out, too." He said, nodding at Caspian and Maxine. He walked out of the room, leaving them alone. Maxine looked over at Caspian, who was staring down at the map in front of him, his finger tapping the cap where the ship was supposed to be, a frown on his face. Maxine got up and went over to his side, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Caspian?" She asked quietly, "Are you okay?" Caspian sighed, bringing his hand up to his temples and rubbing them in slow circles.

"No, I'm not." He said, "This voyage is taking out a lot on our men. Something could go wrong." He looked over at Maxine, "We're running out of rations, and if we don't find land soon, there's a good chance the crew will threaten mutiny." Maxine rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm sure it won't happen." She said, Caspian moved away from her and she frowned sadly. He sat down in a nearby chair and put his head in his hands. Maxine came over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them, "You need to stop stressing out. I'm sure we'll find the island soon, or some land, and we'll be fine."

"But what if it doesn't?" Caspian asked, lifting his head up, Maxine leaned down and hugged his shoulders to her back.

"It will be." She assured him, "You'll see." She kissed his cheek and Caspian sighed and smiled at her.

"Thank you, Maxine." He said, Maxine smiled back at him.

* * *

><p>Lucy stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom she, Gale, and Maxine shared. She couldn't sleep, she was thinking too much about that magic spell she had taken from the book of incantations. The spell that would make her just as beautiful as Susan. She looked over at Gale to see she was sound asleep, and then she looked over at where Maxine was sleeping on a hammock of her own making near the room's window, her breathing calm as she slept. Lucy got up and reached into her pocket, pulling out the piece of paper and reading aloud the words written on the paper.<p>

"Transform my reflection, cast into perfection," Lucy recited, not seeing the green mist as it curled around a lantern near her, "Lashes, lips and complexion. Make me she whom I'd agree holds more beauty over me." She looked around at herself, not seeing her appearance change at all. She sat up and looked up at where a mirror stood on the walls of the room. She got out of bed, and walked over to it, not noticing how the storm had suddenly calmed. She watched as her nightclothes changed into a light blue polka-dotted dress with a green ribbon wrapped around it. She looked at her face in the mirror, seeing it transform, making her just as beautiful as her sister, with the same rosy cheeks, baby blue eyes, and ruby red lips. She touched her face, unable to believe it was happening. She reached out and touched the mirror, and was surprised to see it open up like a door to her home world, where lively music played in someone's backyard. She walked out of someone's pavilion.

"Ladies and gentleman," A man announced, "Miss Pevensie." She smiled as her entrance was applauded. Her smile widened as she overheard some of the young soldiers saying how pretty she was. She looked over in as Edmund came up next to her, wearing a suit, taking her arm.

"Edmund!" She said in surprise.

"You look beautiful, sister." He said with a smile.

"As always." A voice said from behind her. She looked behind her and saw Peter coming up behind her taking her arm, wearing his own suit.

"Peter!" She said happily.

"Excuse me, Miss," A camera man said, coming over to them, "Can I get a photo?"

"Oh, Mother's going to love this!" Peter said as the three of them stood still for the man to take the photo, "All her children in picture."

"Smile!" The camera man said, preparing the camera to take a photograph.

"Hang on, where am I?" Lucy asked, looking up at Peter, who looked at her confusedly, "I mean, where's Lucy?"

"Lucy?" Edmund repeated in confusion, "Who's Lucy?" The camera flashed and she tried to move away from her brothers, suddenly finding herself very uncomfortable.

"Susan, what's wrong?" Peter asked, trying to keep her still for the picture.

"Come on, now, Miss." The camera man said as he went to polish his lens, "Nice, big smile."

"Edmund," She said, looking at him, "I'm not sure about all this. I think I want to go back."

"Go back where?" Edmund asked as he smiled for the camera.

"To Narnia." She said, Edmund looked at her with an amused smile.

"Where on earth's Narnia?" He asked, Lucy in Susan's body frowned worriedly. She didn't like this. Didn't she exist? Why didn't her brothers know about Narnia? This was all wrong!

"What's going on?" She demanded, still trying to escape her brother's grasp. "_Stop this_!" The camera flashed again and she covered up her face, trying to make this world disappear. She suddenly heard the music stop and she slowly peeked out from her fingers, looking to see her own reflection in the mirror in her bedroom back on the _Dawn Treader_. She gasped when she saw the large lion she knew as Aslan appearing behind her in the mirror.

"Lucy." He said, coming up beside her.

"Aslan?" Lucy asked quietly, she turned to see if he was really there, but he was not. He only appeared in the mirror.

"What have you done, child?" Aslan asked her.

"…I don't know." Lucy murmured, her voice shaking, "That was awful."

"But you _chose_ it, Lucy." Aslan said.

"I didn't mean to choose all of that." Lucy said, feeling a lump in her throat as she spoke from her tears. "I just wanted to be beautiful like Susan… That's all…"

"You wished yourself away." Aslan said, "And with it, much more. Your brothers and sister wouldn't know Narnia without you, Lucy. You discovered it first, remember?"

Lucy looked up into the lion's eyes, feeling her throat tighten even more in tears, "I'm so sorry…"

"You doubt your value." Aslan said, "Don't run from who you are." He stepped aside, away from the mirror.

* * *

><p>"Aslan!" Lucy shouted, not wanting the lion to leave. Maxine fell out of her hammock in surprise at her shout, hitting the floor. She instantly stood up.<p>

"What? What?" She asked, looking around the room for any danger. She looked over at Lucy, "What is it?" Lucy looked down at the page she had taken from the book of incantations.

"Nothing." Lucy said, crumpling up the paper and getting up from the bed and going over to the fireplace and throwing it in, and watching the paper burn, "It was just a bad dream."

"Oh…" Maxine said, relaxing her raised fists. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She said.

Neither girl noticed a green mist moving away from them and out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I need to tell you guys that, starting Monday<strong>**, I'll be at an overnight camp where I won't be able to post anymore chapters for a week. Sorry, but it's a school thing, and I can't get out of it because I'm stuck as a senior group leader. On top of that, I have to study for ACT's to get my score up to a 25. Updates won't come out as quickly as they did before.**

**So please excuse the absence of updates for a while!**

**Not writing makes me very sad! TT^TT**


	7. Edmund and Eustace's Temptation

7

The green mist traveled out of their room and through the deck to the room where Edmund and Caspian were. Caspian's eyes were closed in a deep sleep, while Edmund remained awake, his mind filled with different thoughts from what Coriakin had said to them. As the mist traveled under their hammocks, Caspian began to turn in his sleep, muttering "Father," over and over again. Edmund looked over at the king, figuring he was just having a nightmare.

"Edmund," A voice whispered, "Edmund." He looked over at where the voice was coming from and jumped when he saw the White Witch, but her appearance had changed. She didn't look human. It looked like she was a being manifested from the green mist, "Come with me." She held out her hand to him, "Join me." Edmund, not going to give in to her words, pulled out his sword and pointed it at her.

"Edmund," Edmund jumped at another whisper and looked over to see Lucy and Maxine standing beside his hammock. He sighed in relief at the sight of them, then looked back to where he had seen the White Witch and saw nothing.

"Lucy," He whispered in relief, a rumble of thunder sounded above them, and Caspian jumped awake in a cold sweat. Maxine frowned when she saw the look on his face and went over to him. He took her hand and she smiled softly at him, carefully moving a stray lock of hair out of his face.

"I can't sleep." Lucy whispered to her brother.

"Let me guess," Edmund said, seeing Caspian, "Bad dreams?" Lucy said nothing and that seemed to be enough for Edmund, "So, either we're all going mad, or something is seriously messing with our minds." He leaned back into his hammock. Maxine frowned slightly at his words, and Caspian gently squeezed her hand.

* * *

><p>Maxine smiled when she came up on deck to find that it was not flooded from the water of the waves. The ship was not rocking violently, and there was no lightning flashing above their heads, and no thunder following it. The storm had passed. Now, the sun shone over the dry deck, and the crew was soaking up as much sunshine as they could after being in a storm that lasted a fortnight. She walked up and let her hand slide against the railing of the ship as she walked, glad that she could come up on the deck without worrying about being thrown off into the water below. As she walked, she didn't notice how Caspian's brown eyes followed her movements from above deck, his eyes traveling down her curvy figure. He clenched his fist as he tried to hold back any thoughts that he had of her that wouldn't be appropriate to think unless she was his wife. However, his will power was not that strong. He began to imagine what she might look like underneath her clothing. His thoughts might have continued, if Drinian had not called his name.<p>

"What?" Caspian asked, looking back at the captain. Drinian sighed.

"Sire, I mean no harm by this," He said, "But aren't you and the elder queen getting a bit… close?"

"Well, some time ago," Caspian said, "When the elder queen was not a queen, we were in love." He looked out to the deck, watching as Reepicheep scurried over to her and they began to converse, "And we are still in love."

"I understand the rush of young love, your highness," Drinian said, Caspian looked back at him as he spoke. Drinian's eyes seemed to swim in a memory, "Many years ago, I experienced the same thing with a young woman. But, as we grew older, we also grew apart. I fear that your relationship with Queen Maxine will end in a much more painful way."

"Who says it will end?" Caspian asked with a frown, Drinian sighed.

"Your highness," He began, "She is from another realm. Eventually, she will return to it, and she will _stay_ there." Caspian looked away from him and back at Maxine, who smiled as Reepicheep demonstrated some moves from a story he was telling her, "I'm just warning you, young love, while fleeting, is also extremely painful when it ends." He walked off to the helm, and Caspian turned back to where Maxine laughed when Reepicheep told a particularly funny part of his story, her smile lighting up her entire face. Caspian came to a horrible realization, and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Drinian was right.

* * *

><p>Maxine leaned back against the boat as the men rowed it toward the island. They had spotted it a while ago. The island was large, and it looked pretty barren. She could see smoke rising up from the ground from geysers. She sat next to Eustace, and she had to say, she wasn't exactly comfortable sitting next to him.<p>

"I doubt the lords stopped here, my liege." Reepicheep said from the other boat, "There's no sign of anything living."

"Right," Caspian agreed, "Well, once you get to shore, take your men to search for food and water. The four of us will look for clues."

"Hang on, you mean the _five_ of us." Eustace said. Caspian, Edmund, and the rest of the crew members who were rowing the boat, all stopped to look back at Eustace. Did he really just say that? "Come on, _please_ don't send me back to the rat."

"I heard that." Reepicheep said from the other boat. Maxine smiled at his words, small chuckles escaping from some of the men.

Eustace frowned and looked away from him, muttering, "Big ears." Maxine frowned, and was about to hit the backside of his head for that, when Reepicheep spoke again.

"I heard that, too!" The mouse said, Caspian, Maxine, Lucy, and Edmund laughed at Eustace's disgruntled face.

It wasn't too long after that that they arrived at the island. Maxine gladly took Caspian's hand as he helped her out of the boat, and Edmund helped his sister and Eustace. Once they reached the shore, the crew quickly went to work getting out baskets and crates to carry any food and water they found on the island. Everyone but Eustace helped them take it out. The reason he didn't help, was because he had decided to separate from the group, believing that he was more than capable of being by himself on a desolate island in uncharted waters in a land he had never heard of until a few weeks ago.

When Maxine and the others started to search for any clues, she didn't bother to notice Eustace wasn't with the crew, and didn't bother to care where he was. She followed Caspian as he led them around the island, around jagged rocks that pierced through the ground, vaguely resembling large fangs.

"Look!" Caspian exclaimed as they came towards a hole where a rope had been tied to a nearby rock so someone could go down into it, "We're not the first ones on this island."

"Think it could be the lords?" Maxine asked as they came up to it. Caspian bent down and picked up a small stone.

"Could be." Caspian said, he tossed the stone down into the hole to see how deep it was. Maxine's head cocked to the side as she saw a glittering, golden light coming from below. "What do you think could be down there?"

"Let's find out." Edmund said, he grabbed onto the rope and started climbing down into an underground cave. Everyone watched as he went down, waiting for him to say something about what was down there.

"What do you see?" Lucy asked him, Edmund looked back up to the hole's entrance.

"It's safe!" He called up, "Come on down!" Lucy nodded and followed him down, as did Maxine, and Caspian. Maxine looked around, seeing a small pool in the cave. A drop of water came down from the ceiling of the cave, making her reflection quiver as the water rippled.

"Think it's okay to drink?" She asked the others, her eyes on the water.

"Maybe," Caspian said, coming up beside her.

"Hey, guys!" Edmund said, "Check this out!" They went over to where he was, and saw the most peculiar thing lying in the water. It was a clothed man, looking sprawled out in the water, but it looked like every part of him was made of gold.

"What's that?" Caspian asked, seeing it.

"I dunno," Edmund said, "Looks like some sort of… gold statue."

"Pretty detailed for a statue," Maxine said, noting how every wrinkle on the man's face had been outlined perfectly. He looked to be a middle-aged man, somewhere between his mid-forties to early fifties. Edmund stared at the statue for another second, then went to the wall, taking hold of a dried up root that rested on it and yanking it off. He went back to the water and tried to use the old, stiff root to move the statue, to see if there was anything around it. When he dipped it in the water, he saw something happen to it and pulled it out, seeing the part that had been put in suddenly become a bright golden color that quickly began to spread across the entire stick. He tried to keep a hold on it as the stick suddenly became heavier and heavier, but found he couldn't and dropped it into the pool. Maxine looked at the water in shock. "Did anyone else just see that?"

"It's like the touch of Midas…" Lucy murmured, looking at the pool, "It must have turned to solid gold."

"That explains why it got so heavy." Edmund said, rubbing his hands, "That must've been over fifty pounds." Caspian walked over to the pool, looking at the 'statue' of the man in the water, now knowing the reason for the statue's strange appearance.

"He must have fallen in." He said.

"Poor man," Lucy said sadly.

"You mean poor _lord_." Edmund said, seeing a golden shield lying a few feet away from the man.

"The crest of Lord Restimar," Caspian murmured, recognizing it.

"And his sword!" Edmund said, pointing to where the sword's handle stuck out of the water.

"We need it." Caspian said. Edmund pulled out his sword and carefully went over to where the sword lay. No one noticed the green mist moving around in the water beneath them.

"Be careful." Lucy warned him as his foot got closer to the water. He cautiously put the blade in the water and hooked it under the hilt of the lord's sword and pulling it out of the water.

"Why didn't it turn to gold?" Maxine asked, seeing that the two swords were unaffected by the water.

"Because the swords are magical." Caspian said, moving to help Edmund as he moved the sword away from the pool of water. "Here," He held out his hand and grabbed the dry handle of the sword and held it up. Lucy looked down at the lord sadly.

"He mustn't have known what hit him." Lucy said.

"Maybe…" Edmund said, putting his sword down, "Or maybe he was onto something." Caspian furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" He asked him. Edmund kneeled down and picked up a shell that was lying next to the pool and dipped it in the water. Then he quickly pulled it out and put it next to the pool, watching it turn to gold. He stared at it in awe, and picked it up, keeping his eyes on the shell.

"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked. Edmund glanced back at the pool, then back at the shell.

"Whoever has access to this pool," He began, "Could be the most _powerful_ person in the world." Maxine felt an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach, sharing a glance with Caspian. Edmund looked over at his sister, "Lucy… We'd be so rich. No one could tell us what to do, or who to live with."

"You can't take anything out of Narnia, Edmund." Caspian said, Edmund seemed to not pay attention as he kept staring at the shell.

"Says who?" Edmund asked. Caspian frowned.

"I do." Edmund looked back at Caspian, seeing his serious face and glared at him, picking up his sword, walking towards him.

"I'm not your subject." He growled.

"You've been waiting for this, haven't you?" Caspian asked with a knowing, angry look, "To challenge me. You doubt my leadership!"

"You doubt yourself!" Edmund snarled.

"You're a child!" Caspian countered.

"And you're a _spineless sap_!" Edmund shot back.

"Edmund!" Lucy cried incredulously, reaching out for his arm, he yanked her hand away and looked back at Caspian.

"I'm _tired _of playing second fiddle!" Edmund said, glaring at the older king, "First it was Peter, now it's you. You know I'm braver than both of you! And why do _you_ get Peter's sword? I _deserve_ a kingdom of my own! I _deserve_ to rule!"

"If you think you're so brave," Caspian began, "_Prove it_!" He shoved Edmund roughly and he stumbled back a step. Edmund swung his sword at Caspian, and it clashed against his. Maxine looked at the two in disbelief, were they really fighting about this? Then again, who wouldn't? Everything that touches the pool turns to solid gold. But this was just crazy! To think that greed could so easily cloud their minds… This wasn't good. This had to be the temptation that Coriakin had warned them about. She had to stop this before they killed themselves. She jumped in between them, holding her hands out to get them to stop.

"Alright, both of you quit it!" She yelled at them, her voice echoing through the cave. She looked at the two boys, "Look at yourselves! Don't you see what's happening?" Edmund and Caspian looked at each other, lowering their blades slightly, "This place has tempted you. It's using magic to mess with your minds. This is _exactly_ what Coriakin talked about." They both lowered their swords completely, "Let's just… get out of here." She walked past the two boys, Lucy following her, heading for the exit. Caspian and Edmund looked at each other, sharing an apologetic glance. Caspian put his sword away, picking up the sword of Lord Restimar and followed the two girls. Edmund looked down at the shell in his hand and tossed it into the pool of water. He didn't notice the green mist as it disappeared somewhere deep within the pool.

Once Caspian was out of the hole, Maxine waited for him, holding out her hand to him. He took it and she pulled him up, doing the same with Edmund when he came up after Caspian. When they stood by her sides, she reached up and slapped the backs of their heads.

"Ow!" Caspian said, his hand going to where she had smacked him.

"Hey!" Edmund said, putting his hand to the spot where she had hit him.

"That was for being stupid." She told them. Edmund frowned, still rubbing at the spot she had hit him, as did Caspian. "If either of you do something that stupid again, you're gonna get a lot worse than a smack to the head."

"Right…" Edmund mumbled, following Lucy as she walked back to the longboats. Maxine was about to do the same, when Caspian caught her arm and kissed her cheek. A light blush covered her cheeks as she looked up at the king.

"Thank you, Maxine." He said, smiling at her. She smiled back at him, taking his hand as they walked back to the boats.

* * *

><p>"Oh, yes. Follow the imaginary blue star to the island of… Raman-doo-doo! Place the seven steak knives at the table of the talking lion!" Eustace snorted to himself as he walked around the barren island. "Ninnies," He kicked a nearby stone angrily and kept walking. As he passed by a large rock, something shone in his eyes and he squinted, looking to see what thing was trying to blind him. His eyes widened when he saw a mile-long trail of beautiful golden objects and treasures glittering in the sunlight. He stared at it in awe, not believing his eyes.<p>

"What is that—" He was cut short when the rock he was standing on had decided to move so he would fall into the large trench the treasure lay in. Eustace sat up, looking around him with a smile, "I must be dead." He stood up, dusted off his clothes, and then started grabbing every piece of gold he could find. If he was going to be stuck in some magical world, he was going to make it worth his while. Something else that glittered caught his eye and he looked to see it was a lovely golden arm band. He went to go and grab it, and he jumped when he saw that the arm band was still on the arm of a clothed skeleton. "You're _definitely_ dead." He pushed the skeleton over and took the arm band from his body and putting it on his own, "Won't be needing that then, will you?" He went to the rest of the treasure and started stuffing it in his pockets as fast as he could, looking up when he heard something like a roar sound in his ears. He didn't see anything, so he continued to grab as much treasure as he could, "Finally, a favorable turn of events."

Eustace didn't care to notice the green mist that was coming out from behind some of the gold he was taking.

* * *

><p>As Maxine and the others walked back to the boats, they saw the crew was loading up baskets of what must have been food back to the ship.<p>

"What food did you find?" Caspian asked, coming over to them. He looked to see the baskets were half-empty with different assortments of greens, and some root vegetables, but not much else. Rhince came over to the baskets, looking up at Caspian.

"It's volcanic, your majesty," He said apologetically, "Not much grows." Caspian sighed unhappily. Maxine frowned and picked up one of the greens, inspecting it curiously.

"I thought volcanic soil was one of the most fertile on earth?" She said confusedly.

"That's at the foot of a volcano, Max." Edmund said, "This whole island is the volcano, I'm guessing, not many things grow naturally on a volcanic island."

"Oh." Maxine said, tossing the plant back in the basket. Lucy looked around, noticing the absence of someone.

"Where's Eustace?" She asked aloud.

"I believe he's out _not_ helping us load the boats." Reepicheep said. Caspian sighed exasperatedly, and Maxine rolled her eyes.

"Eustace?" Lucy called out, looking for any sort of reaction from the island around them, "Eustace!" Still, no sign of her cousin, she looked back at her brother, "Edmund, I've got a bad feeling."

"I'll go find him." Edmund said, turning to start looking for his cousin.

"I'll come with you." Caspian said. Edmund looked back at him and nodded, Caspian looked back at Maxine, "You go with Lucy back onto the boat."

"Fine," She said unhappily, crossing her arms over her chest. Caspian followed Edmund as they headed off and Maxine turned around to help the crew load the boats.

* * *

><p>Maxine leaned against the back of the boat as the crew mulled around the ship below them, preparing to leave the second Caspian and Edmund came back. Lucy and Gale were next to her, Gale happily chatting with Lucy about something her mother did for her once. She stopped, however, when she heard a loud roaring sort of sound. The ship became silent as the roar came again.<p>

"What was that?" Lucy asked Drinian, who stood behind them. The roar came again, and Maxine's eyes widened when she saw a cloud of fire coming from a hill on the island. Maxine felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at the sight of it.

"Is it the volcano?" Gale asked worriedly.

"Oh, no," Drinian said grimly, "That's no volcano." He turned to the crew, shouting, "All hands on deck!" The roar came again, and Gale huddled up beside Lucy, "Archers! Arm yourselves!" Crossbows were handed out to every archer on the ship, and once they were ready, Maxine heard a flapping sound and her eyes widened as she saw a huge dragon flying towards their ship. It flew around the ship, and the archers gathered on the deck, "Take your positions and wait for my command!" The dragon flew up and landed on the mast.

"What's it doing?" Lucy shouted out fearfully, keeping Gale close.

"Fire!" Drinian shouted, the archers did as he commanded and began firing off arrows at the dragon. It roared out and writhed in pain as some of the arrows landed, making the wood of the mast beneath it creak from its weight. "It'll break the mast!" The dragon instantly jumped off the mast and hovered above it. The power of the wind coming from its wings was enough to make some of the crew stumble around the boat.

"Right!" Reepicheep said, putting his sword in his mouth and climbing up the mast to where the dragon had landed on the mast again.

"Fire!" Drinian shouted again, the barrage of arrows that suddenly hit the dragon made it fall over, gripping onto the mast so it wouldn't fall over. Reepicheep climbed up to the top of the mast and jabbed his sword into the dragon's claw. The dragon roared out in pain, fire escaping its throat as it fell away from the ship and flew away back towards the island. The crew cheered once it had gone, but Maxine and Lucy remained uneasy. Edmund and Caspian were still on the island looking for Eustace.

The dragon instantly went to them, flying over Caspian, who looked at it in fear as it came closer to his friend, "Edmund!" He looked back just in time to see the dragon scoop him up in his claws and fly away with him, going past the ship.

"Ed!" Maxine cried, seeing him go by.

"_Edmund!_" Lucy screeched in fear for her brother.

"Lucy!" Edmund called back, the dragon quickly flew away and back towards the island. Edmund squirmed and struggled to get out of the beast's grasp as it flew over a mountain, and he was greeted with a very strange sight. Parts of the dried, black lava from previous volcanic eruptions had been set a fire by something, spelling out some very poorly made, but easy to read, words.

_I AM EUSTACE_

Edmund looked at the dragon, then back at the words he had used his fiery breath to write into the ground.

"You've _got_ to be joking."

* * *

><p>Maxine, Lucy, Caspian, Reepicheep, Edmund, and Drinian all looked at Eustace in wonder as he stood before them, trying to get a golden arm band off of his front paw with his teeth, and when that didn't work, he tried to get it off by dragging his paw against the ground.<p>

"He must've been tempted by the treasure." Edmund said, looking at his scaly cousin that glared down at the arm band that had caused his skin to swell painfully from its small size.

"Well, anyone knows that a dragon's treasure is enchanted." Caspian said. Eustace let out a low growl and glared at the king, "Well… Anyone from… here."

"I probably shouldn't be surprised that Narnia has dragons," Maxine said, "Yet I _never_ saw this coming." She shook her head in disbelief at the sight of Eustace, who sent her a small glare as well. Lucy walked over to Eustace, and he hopped back slightly, still holding up the paw with the arm band. She reached out and yanked it off of him, walking away with it as Eustace seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Maxine looked over at Caspian, "Is there any way to turn him back to normal?"

"Not that I know of." Caspian said, looking back to Drinian, who looked away unsurely. Eustace looked at all those who were there, hoping one of them would have an answer. Edmund looked back at his cousin.

"Aunt Alberta will _not_ be pleased." He said. Eustace growled and slammed his paw onto the ground, hanging his head.

"Sorry about the hand, old boy." Reepicheep apologized with a sheepish smile, "I… can be a little overzealous at times." Eustace glared at the mouse, a low growl coming from him.

"The boats are ready, sire!" Taveras said from the shore. Lucy looked over at Caspian.

"We can't leave him alone." She said.

"Well, we can't bring him on board, your majesty." Drinian said, Caspian sighed and handed him the sword of Lord Octesian, which they had found near his skeletal remains.

"Drinian, you and the others take one boat back." He ordered, "The rest of us will stay here 'til morning and…" He looked over at Eustace, "Work out what to do."

"But you've no provisions!" Rhince said incredulously, "And no means of staying warm, your majesty." Eustace's eyes shifted as he looked for something, and he roared as fire shot out of his mouth and lit a piece of dry wood on fire.

"You were saying?" Reepicheep asked with a smirk. Everyone smiled at his words, and some laughter escaped from their throats as Eustace smacked his lips together, as if breathing fire had left a strange taste in his mouth.

* * *

><p>Maxine lay next to Caspian as they looked up at the stars late that night, their fingers linked together. A few feet away from them was Edmund, who was sleeping soundly, Gale and Lucy shared a blanket a few feet away from him. Opposite the fire pit from them was Eustace, who lay on the ground on his side, trying to get to sleep in his new body. Reepicheep lay curled up a few feet away from him, sleeping pleasantly, and a few feet away from Reepicheep was Rhince, who had tucked his arm under his head as a make-shift pillow.<p>

"I've never seen these constellations before." Caspian said as he looked up at the stars.

"Same here," Maxine said, "But, then again, I didn't recognize any of the constellations in Narnia, either, so…" She shrugged nonchalantly, going back to star-gazing, "We're a long way from Narnia, aren't we?" Caspian nodded silently.

"When I was a boy," He began, "I used to imagine sailing to the end of the world… and finding my father there." Maxine looked over at the young king, her thumb gently rubbing his hand.

"Maybe you will." She said, Caspian looked over at her, smiling softly. She smiled back and she moved so she could give him a soft kiss.

"Maxine…" Caspian began, "I've been thinking—"

"Always a good thing." Maxine said with a smirk, Caspian let a small smirk come across his own lips, but it left as he continued.

"When you do return home," He said, "What if you never come back?" Maxine groaned quietly, shutting her eyes as she shook her head.

"Don't ask me to think about that." She begged, "I don't want to think about it."

"But it's going to happen at some point." Caspian said, "You need to figure out what you're going to do."

"I know what I'm going to do when I get back, Caspian." Maxine said, sounding a bit insulted that he would think she wasn't prepared, "I'm going to get back to what I'm supposed to be doing."

"And that is?"

"Look for a different place to stay other than the Farsend orphanage." Maxine said, "Find an apartment, maybe near where my mom is so I can visit her more often. Then, I'll find a good college, get a degree in something and get a good life." She looked over at Caspian, "I mean, what else is there for me to do?"

"Get married." Caspian said, "Start a family. Why can't you do that?"

"I'm _eighteen_, I'm too young to start a family." Maxine said.

"I meant later on in your life." Caspian said, Maxine shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe." She said, "If I meet a nice enough guy. Why do you need to know?"

"Because, Maxine," Caspian said, "This venture could be the last we ever see of each other. I just want to make sure you're prepared."

"I _am_ prepared." Maxine said, Caspian gave her a doubting look, "Sort of. I'll figure it out, okay?" Maxine moved over so she could rest her head on his chest, "Can we stop talking about it and just go to sleep?" Caspian looked down at her, seeing her blink her blue eyes at him with a small pout on her lips and he sighed in relent, smiling as he put his arms around her.

"Yes." He said, kissing the top of her head. Maxine smiled and closed her eyes as she snuggled into him.

* * *

><p>Later on into the night, Reepicheep awoke to the sound of low rumbles, and looked to see it was Eustace. A fat tear rolled down from his eyes to his snout and splashed against the ground as he cried quietly. Feeling some pity for the poor boy in a dragon's body, Reepicheep got up and went over to him.<p>

"Trouble sleeping?" He asked quietly, Eustace moved his head away from him. "Now, now, all's not as lost as it seems." He walked closer to him, "I'll stay up with you, if you wish… Keep you company." Eustace didn't make any sounds of protest, so he took it as a notion that he wouldn't mind, "I'll wager you didn't even believe in dragons this morning." He said with a small smile. Eustace didn't respond, and he laughed awkwardly, looking away, "Yes…" He looked back at the dragon, "You know, extraordinary things only happen to extraordinary people… Maybe it's a sign! That you've got an extraordinary destiny." Eustace lifted his head and looked down at the mouse, listening to him, "Something… Something greater than you could have imagined." Eustace seemed to get a small, hopeful look in his eyes and Reepicheep smiled at him, "I could tell you one or two of my adventures, if you like. Just to… pass the time." Eustace shifted so he could be more comfortable as Reepicheep spoke, "Believe it or not, you're not the first dragon I've encountered. Many years ago, too many that I care to mention, I was with a band of pirates. I met another dragon, much fiercer than you…"

* * *

><p><strong>I am BACK! Ha ha, okay. Just another warning, updates might not be coming out as quickly as before.<strong>

**Oh, and if any of you were wondering, I had an AWESOME time on my trip. :)**


	8. Ramandu's Island

8

Gale's eyes slowly fluttered open as the morning sun began to rise. She yawned as she sat up and she looked around at the ocean. She gasped when she saw something in the sky and smiled widely, shaking Lucy's body beside her.

"Lucy!" She whispered, "Lucy, wake up!" Lucy quickly got up and looked over at Gale, "Look!" She pointed to something in the distance and Lucy followed her line of sight and smiled at what she saw.

"The blue star!" She exclaimed happily. She turned to where everyone was sleeping, "Everybody! Everybody, wake up!" Caspian and Edmund quickly sat up, expecting the worst. Maxine did the same, as did Reepicheep and Rhince. Eustace didn't stir at all, "It's the blue star!" Reepicheep noticed Eustace hadn't awoken, and smacked the side of his face.

"Come on, old boy," He said, not seeing Eustace's displeased face from being awoken, "Wake up." Eustace sat up and looked to see the blue star shining in the early morning sky. Maxine smiled at the sight of it.

* * *

><p>"This is great!" Maxine said as she went over the map with Caspian, marking all the new islands they had come across, "Now that we know which direction the blue star is in, it should only take us a few more days to get to Ramandu's island!"<p>

"Yes…" Caspian mumbled in agreement, not really paying attention to her words. Maxine wrote down the words 'Dragon's Island' next to the X they had put for the island where Eustace had changed into a dragon. Maxine frowned when she heard Caspian's voice and elbowed him.

"Come on, Caspian," She said, "Aren't you excited? We're so close to finishing this journey, I can almost taste it!"

"That's just it, Maxine." Caspian said, turning to her, "This journey is coming to an end. Do you think you'll be able to stay long once it's over?" Maxine's smile fell as she realized that Caspian was right. The young king frowned and began to pace, running his fingers through his hair. "And what if this is the last time? What if you aren't able to come back? Susan and Peter weren't much older than you when they were told they couldn't return. I… I don't think—"

"Caspian, calm down." Maxine said, "It's no big deal. If I don't come back, then we just go back to what we were doing before. I go back home to do what I gotta do, and you go back to Narnia, find a queen, and move on."

"Oh, and that's just _so_ easy, is it?" Caspian snapped angrily, Maxine scowled and Caspian sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"Moving on is hard," Maxine said, "I get it, okay? Susan tried to set me up with a couple of guys back home, but it didn't go so well. Every time I was with one of them…" Caspian looked over at her as she paused, Maxine looked down at her hands, a light blush on her cheeks, "I kept thinking about you. I kept comparing them to you. It was always you… But I guess that's normal, considering that you were my…" Her blush deepened and she trailed off.

"I was your what?" Caspian asked, Maxine hid her blushing face behind her hair.

"My… First love." Maxine mumbled quietly, her entire face blushing a deep shade of red. Caspian smiled softly and went over to her, taking her hand and kissing her cheek. She looked up at him and before she could say anything, he kissed her lips.

"You're adorable." Caspian said, "Did you know that?" Maxine smiled at him a little, leaning up to kiss his lips softly.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Maxine went around on the deck, surprised to find that no wind was blowing in the sails and the boat was being moved only by the sheer force of the men rowing the huge ship below deck. She could hear their groans and grunts from moving such a huge craft across the sea. She walked over to where Caspian and Edmund were conversing with Drinian.<p>

"What happened?" She asked them, getting their attention.

"The wind has left us." Drinian said, looking to where the sail had been rolled up.

"So how do we get to Ramandu's island now, then?" Edmund asked, looking around at the wide ocean. Drinian walked around Edmund over to the stairs that led up to the helm.

"My guess is something doesn't want us to get there." He said. Maxine looked up at Caspian worriedly, knowing that this could be perfectly possible. He frowned thoughtfully and followed Drinian up to the helm.

"If I get any hungrier…" One of the crew muttered as they passed by Edmund and Maxine, he looked up at where Eustace flew over their heads, "I'm gonna _eat that dragon_!" Eustace let out an angry growl at the sound of his words.

"Don't worry, Eustace!" Reepicheep calmed from where he rode on Eustace's horned head, "They'll have to deal with me, first." Eustace let out a soft roar and flew away, Reepicheep grabbing tightly to his horns at the sudden movement, "Ah! Careful!" Edmund and Maxine went up to the helm.

"You can't seriously let them _eat_ Eustace." Maxine said to the captain as she came up.

"If we don't find land by tonight, they may very well eat that—" Drinian was cut off when the boat suddenly lurched as if something had hit it. Maxine let out a yelp and fell back into Caspian, who had grabbed onto the railing to steady himself. He pushed the two of them back up and went to where Drinian had stood up.

"What did we hit?" He asked urgently as they ran to the side of the ship to see what they had hit to cause the sudden lurch. Maxine quirked a curious eyebrow when she saw the boat was moving along the water even though the oars weren't moving. Edmund looked up to the front of the boat and smiled widely from what he saw.

"Eustace! That's brilliant!" He cried. Maxine looked up and smiled at the sight of Eustace's tail wrapped around the head of the dragon at the front of the boat, pulling it forward in the direction of the blue star. Reepicheep scurried off Eustace's head and onto the head of the wooden dragon's head, holding onto the horn on its nose, holding out his sword.

"Onward ho!" He exclaimed, the crew cheered happily, pulling their oars back inside the boat. Maxine wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she saw a smile on Eustace's face at the sound of their cheers.

* * *

><p>Later on, in the navigational room, Maxine was looking at one of the books that he had kept with him, skimming over the pages interestedly as Caspian looked over the three swords they had collected. He picked one up and held it to the light, seeing the metal gleam.<p>

"We can't even be sure the lords even _made_ it to Ramandu's island." Caspian said, looking over the other two swords. Maxine heard his words and shut the book she had been looking at, placing it back on the shelf she had found it. "How do we know they weren't tempted, too?" He placed the sword back on the table with the others, and Maxine walked over to him.

"Maybe… this is all part of the test." She said as she came up next to him, "Remember what Coriakin said: Look for the blue star, stay true to its course. Don't yield, and don't falter." She gestured to the three swords of the three lords, "_They_ were tempted. _They_ faltered."

"And we almost did, too." Caspian said, leaning back in his chair. Maxine frowned and put her hand on his shoulder.

"But you _didn't_." She said, "You didn't falter, you did like Coriakin said. That's a good thing Caspian. Look," She moved to lean against the table, "Everyone makes mistakes. You almost went for that pool back on Dragon Island, but you stopped, and you came back to the ship."

"Only because you stopped me." Caspian said, "If you had not been there, I would have been the same as Lord Restimar."

"Don't talk like that." Maxine said, "You would have known what it was, even without me there. You can survive without me, Caspian." Caspian reached for her hand and held it tightly in his.

"I don't want to." He said, he kissed her fingers and Maxine felt her breath catch in her throat, "I don't want to know what it is to live without you, Maxine." He kissed her palm gently, "I don't want to know what life would be like if you weren't by my side." He kissed her wrist, moving the sleeve of the shirt she wore to expose more of her fair skin, "To know that you wouldn't return someday. To know that I could never embrace you again." He kissed her forearm and Maxine found she had a very hard time keeping her breath steady and her heart calm. "I always want you beside me. I always want you in my arms." He looked up at her, his hand caressing her cheek, "I always want to feel your skin, to feel your warmth and your heartbeat. I want you with me until the day I die." He gently pulled her forward and she moved obediently, sitting in his lap. He kissed her temple, then her cheek.

"I don't want to leave you either." Maxine murmured, she was surprised when she suddenly felt Caspian's lips meet hers in a passionate kiss. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck while his went around her waist. Maxine panted for air when he pulled away.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." Caspian whispered, his mouth went back to hers, and their lips intermingled once more. Maxine felt his tongue go past her lips and she sighed. His tongue ran over every part of her mouth and she struggled to keep her moan in her throat. He pulled away for air and his dark eyes stared into hers, a lustful fire burning behind his pupils. "I love you." He said as he moved to kiss down her jaw to her neck.

"I love you too," Maxine said, saying it in such a breathy way that Caspian was struggling to keep himself in control. His kisses went down to her collar bone, and down to her clothed chest. Maxine squirmed slightly when she felt his hands go underneath her shirt and begin to trace patterns on her back and on her side. She let out a small whimper as his lips went back to her neck, sucking on it, "_Caspian_…!" Caspian shut his eyes at the sound of her mewl.

"Maxine…" He breathed, "I'm not sure if I can keep going…" Maxine sighed and pushed away from him, getting out of his lap and back onto the floor.

"At least you gave me a warning this time…" She muttered, straightening out her clothes as she stood up. Caspian looked her over and inwardly sighed.

"I am sorry." He said, Maxine shook her head.

"Don't apologize, it's okay." She said, she smiled at him and leaned down, kissing his cheek, "Despite how I act, I actually really appreciate you doing it. It shows what a gentleman you are." Caspian smiled up at her and she smiled back. He was about to say something more, when a knock came from the room.

"Yes?" Caspian called, the door opened, revealing a smiling Edmund.

"We're here." He said, "Eustace got us to Ramandu's Island." Maxine and Caspian shared a surprised glance before moving to go out of the room and on deck to see the island.

Maxine smiled when she saw the island was covered in lush greens, and waterfalls cascaded down almost every cliff top of the island. She looked up, and saw that the blue star was still shining, and it seemed to be a bit larger and brighter than when they had been farther away. She looked to see Eustace had gone to rest on a boulder that was sticking out of the ground, lying down on it, breathing heavily._ He deserves to rest_, Maxine thought to herself.

"Drinian," Caspian said from beside her, "Make anchor and prepare the longboats."

"Aye, your majesty." The man said, nodding once and turning to the crew, "Furl the sails and drop anchor! Prepare the longboats to go ashore!" The crew bustled about, doing as the captain ordered them and getting everything ready.

* * *

><p>As they walked through a stone path that surrounded the island, Maxine found the island to be very quiet and creepy. The fact that it was just after dusk didn't particularly help that notion, only adding an air of darkness to the large, overgrown vines that covered the trees and their thick branches. With Edmund and his flashlight leading the way, he, Caspian, Maxine, Lucy, and the rest of the landing party crossed a bridge that went over a large river. Looking down at it, Maxine had a horrible flashback to the river near her mother's house, and she shuddered in fear. Caspian noticed this and put a hand on her shoulder, she looked up and saw that his eyes were silently asking if she was alright. She nodded once and he released her shoulder, but once his hand was at his side, she reached for it, linking their fingers together for comfort.<p>

She looked up at the gargoyles that rested on the sides of the bridge, finding them to be very unwelcoming. The group kept walking until they came to where two trees had grown so large and so tall that they grew together and formed an arch over a walkway. When they walked through the arch, they found a table on the other side that was covered in tempting and fresh-looking food. All of it was set up very elegantly, with candelabras in every few spots on the table. The table was covered in fine-looking meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and tempting deserts all across it. Taveras noticed it right away.

"Mm… Food." He mumbled, seeing it. Drinian held out his hand to stop the minotaur before he started eating.

"Wait." He said, looking over the food suspiciously as Maxine, Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian went to the end of the table where three masses covered in vines sat at the three chairs at the head. To get a better look at them, Edmund shined his light and found three bearded bodies covered in vines, with eyes wide open. They jumped and pulled out their swords when they saw the men, but saw that they didn't move to attack them at all. Edmund and Caspian moved closer to them, swords out and at the ready if they needed it. Edmund looked curiously at one of the men, while Caspian looked down at their hands, seeing they bore rings. He moved some of the vines aside with his sword and recognized the symbol of the one at the head of the table.

"Lord Revilian," He said, he moved to the lord next to him and Edmund shined his flashlight on them to help him see the ring on his finger, "Lord Mavramorn," The crew began putting their swords away when they realized the bodies were three of the seven lords, some even began inspecting the freshness of the food on the table, seeing as how rations had been pretty stale lately. Caspian looked over at the third lord, recognizing the pendant on his neck, "Lord Argoz." Lucy moved some of the hair out of Lord Mavramorn's face, and jumped back when she felt his breath on her hand. Caspian leaned in closer to look at the lord and saw his long beard gently sway with his inhale and exhale.

"He's breathing…" He murmured in surprise. Maxine looked at the other two lords and saw that their beards were doing the same as the first one.

"They all are." She said in surprise.

"They're under a spell." Edmund said, looking at the lords. Caspian thought about what might have caused the spell, then looked to see where the crew was inspecting the feast before them.

"It's the food!" He exclaimed suddenly, Taveras dropped the apple he was about to eat in shock at his words. All of the crew instantly took a step back from the table. Edmund's light shined over something near the head seat and Lucy squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at it.

"It's the stone knife!" She said, recognizing it from when the White Witch slayed Aslan. She looked up at her brother, "This is Aslan's table!" Caspian looked at the men, and saw their blades resting at their waists.

"Their swords." He said, reaching into the sheath and yanking it out. Maxine and Edmund quickly did the same with the other two lords, "On the table." Caspian told them, they lay down the swords, along with the three others they had collected, creating a small circle with them.

"That's six." Maxine said, counting them all up.

"Still missing one." Caspian said. Maxine took a cautious step back when the six swords began to glow a blue light. When a bright light began to shine over their heads, she looked up and saw a ball of light coming closer to them. They stepped back as the ball came down to the ground and changed its form, turning into a beautiful blonde girl dressed in a white dress, and glowing brightly.

"Travelers of Narnia," She said in a soft, lyrical voice, "Welcome." The young woman was so elegant, they believed her to be royalty, the crew and the four royals bowed before her respectfully. "Arise." She raised her hands and they all stood up, "Are you not hungry?" An amused smile was on her elegant face when she asked this.

"Who are you?" Edmund asked her.

"I'm Lilliandil." She said, "Daughter of Ramandu." She stepped forward, "I am your guide." The four royals stepped closer to the glowing young woman.

"You're a star…" Caspian murmured, Lilliandil smiled and nodded in confirmation, "You are most beautiful." Maxine gaped incredulously at him and roughly punched his shoulder, "Ow!" Maxine scowled, crossing her arms across her chest angrily.

"If it is a distraction for you," Lilliandil said with an uneasy frown, "I can change form."

"No!" Caspian and Edmund said at the same time. Maxine glared at Caspian and punched his shoulder again, "Ow! What?" Maxine looked away from him angrily, feeling jealousy burn in her stomach at the star for capturing Caspian's eyes.

"Please," Lilliandil said, her voice making some peace between the couple, "The food is for you." She turned to the crew, lifting her hands to make all the candelabras light up, "There is enough for all who are welcome at Aslan's table. Always. Help yourselves!" She waved to the food, and some of the crew reached for it.

"Wait," Edmund said, making the crew stop, "What happened to them?" He gestured to the three lords who sat at the table.

"These poor men were half-mad by the time they reached our shores." Lilliandil said sadly, "They were threatening violence upon each other. Violence is… forbidden at the table of Aslan, so they were sent to sleep." Maxine looked at the three lords, then back at the star-turned-human.

"If they're asleep, then they're going to wake up, right?" She asked, "When would that be?"

"When all is put right." Lilliandil said, Maxine frowned at her vague answer. "Come, there is little time." She turned and walked away from the table. Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Maxine followed her while the crew helped themselves to the feast, in need of good food. She led the four royals to a cliff where they could see Dark Island in the distance, only a day away by boat. "The magician, Coriakin, told you of Dark Island?"

"Yes." Caspian said, looking out at the menacing place.

"Before long," Lilliandil said, "The evil will be unstoppable."

"Coriakin said to break its spell," Caspian began, "We had to lay the seven swords at Aslan's table."

"He speaks the truth." Lilliandil said.

"But… we only found six." Edmund said, "Do you know where the seventh is?" Lilliandil looked over at Dark Island, pointing to it.

"In there." She said.

"Oh, fan-freaking-_tastic_." Maxine groaned, staring at the island.

"You will need great courage." Lilliandil said, turning to face them, "Now waste no time."

Caspian nodded mutely, gazing at her, "I hope we meet again." He said, Maxine scowled and kicked the back of his leg since he was too far away for her to punch his shoulder. "Ow!" Lilliandil smiled in amusement and nodded.

"Goodbye." She said. A bright light came from her center, temporarily blinding the four of them. When it died down, they saw she had returned to the form of a bright, glowing orb of a star and shot up into the night sky. When she was gone, Maxine walked over to Caspian and roughly shoved him.

"What?" Caspian asked when she pushed him.

"You're a real ass, you know that?" Maxine said in a low voice before stomping away back to where the crew was. Caspian looked at the two Pevensies.

"What did I do?" He asked them, rubbing his shoulder. Lucy looked at him incredulously.

"You really don't know?" She asked him, Caspian shook his head. Lucy shook her own head in disbelief as she began walking away, "Boys…" Caspian looked over at Edmund for an explanation.

"If I had to guess…" Edmund said, scratching at the back of his head, "She didn't like you looking at other women." He followed his sister over to Aslan's table. Caspian sighed when he realized what he said, running his hands through his hair.

* * *

><p>Maxine stared out at the ocean waters from the railing of the Dawn Treader, her fingers drumming against the wood it was made of. She sighed to herself as she mulled over different thoughts in her head.<p>

_I probably shouldn't get so angry,_ Maxine thought, _I mean, once this adventure is over, I'll be heading back home. Hopefully, on the __**side**__ of the river, and not __**in**__ it, but still… I need to start moving on from all of this, and Caspian does, too. Maybe I should… support… him and Lilliandil being together. After all, she's beautiful, kind, and she's probably pretty smart. She'd be a great candidate for a queen, and a good woman for Caspian to…_ She gulped, _marry._ Maxine groaned to herself and held her head in her hands, she didn't want to give Caspian up, and she didn't want to picture him with another woman, but if she was indeed leaving once this was all over, then she had to make the most of their time together. She lifted her head, unconsciously chewing on the inside of her right cheek as she tried to figure out how to do that.

"Maxine?" Caspian soft voice came to her and she looked to see him standing a few feet away. She pushed herself up from the railing so she could face him, "About what happened… I'm…" She held up her hand to stop him.

"Don't." Maxine said, "_I_ should be the one apologizing."

"Whatever for?" Caspian asked, stepping closer to her.

"Because… Well, it's like you said, I'm probably not gonna stick around much longer." Maxine said, "And, if you're interested in other women, I should be supporting it, and not getting upset about it. I mean," She reached out, putting her hand on his chest, "You need a queen, Caspian. I don't think you could do much better than a star."

"Don't talk like that." Caspian said, taking the hand that was on his chest in his grasp, "No woman is better suited to be my queen than you." Maxine looked up at him in surprise.

"Caspian," She said with a startled laugh, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was a proposal."

"It is." Caspian said, stepping closer to her, his hands grasping her elbows, "Maxine, nothing would make me happier than for you to be my bride." Maxine looked into his eyes to see that he was being completely sincere. She stepped back from him with wide eyes.

"Caspian, marriage is serious stuff." She said, "That's a big step for any couple. Like, really, _really_ big."

"I know." Caspian said, stepping forward towards her, taking her hands, "But, we can get through it. Together." Maxine shook her head.

"No, Caspian." She said, "I don't think I can." Caspian looked at her sadly, and Maxine felt her heart break when she saw the sorrowful look in his eyes. She stepped closer, "But… there _is_ something we can do that… I would be up to."

"What is it?" Caspian asked, Maxine blushed, unable to meet his eyes as she reached out, gently grasping his shirt in her hands.

"…We could… Sleep together." She said, Caspian was about to say something, but she spoke before he could, "I know you think it's improper, and… you're probably right. But think about this for a second." She looked up at him, "We only have, what, a few _hours_ left before this all ends? We can't get married in that time… but we _can_ do what married couples do…" She blushed deeply and looked down at the floor, "I can ask Lucy to bunk with Edmund for the night… And Gale can bunk with her father…" Caspian reached for her hand, holding it tightly.

"Maxine…" He began, he was stopped when she spoke again.

"Caspian _please_ don't say no." She begged in a broken voice, "_Please_ don't." Caspian gently put his fingers under her chin, making her look up at him, and saw her eyes had welled up in tears. She moved away from his hand, putting her head against his chest, "I want to make the most of our time… _Please_…" Caspian felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest at the notion. He would love to be with Maxine in such a way, but he wasn't sure if it was right. His mind was at odds with itself, until Caspian felt warm droplets landing against his clothes. Her tears had fallen. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, resting his head on top of hers.

It took him a moment to find the right words to say, "If… If that is what you truly want, then I will be with you tonight." Maxine looked up at him, her blue eyes shining in hope and tears. Caspian reached up and wiped away her tears with his thumb. She reached up, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him.

"Thank you, Caspian." She said, "I'll meet you in my room, okay?" Caspian nodded and Maxine ran off down into the galley where Lucy waited, "Luce!" She looked over at her, "I need you to do me the _biggest_ of all big favors…"

* * *

><p>Caspian paced around the room impatiently, grasping at his wrists in anxiousness. He had only <em>dreamed<em> of doing such a thing with Maxine, but only on their wedding night. He never imagined it would happen aboard the Dawn Treader. His heart pounded so fiercely in his chest that he could hear it beating in his ears. When he heard the door creak open, he thought he jumped so high his head almost hit the ceiling. Maxine quietly shut the door behind her, looking up at Caspian with her blue eyes that he always found so beautiful.

"Lucy's bunking with Edmund," She said, her voice so very soft, "And Gale's sharing a bunk with her dad." She walked up to him, her hands taking his, "We have the room to ourselves for the night…" Caspian reached up, his hand against her cheek, feeling her body quiver slightly at his touch, or was that his own hand? But he knew one thing for sure, Maxine was nervous about what they were planning to do.

"If you are not ready, Maxine, I will understand." He said, Maxine shook her head.

"No, I want to do this." She said, "I want to be with you, Caspian." Caspian nodded and leaned down, capturing her lips with his. Maxine wrapped her arms around his neck while his went around her waist. She felt his tongue slip past her lips, and she let out a pleasurable sigh. She felt him moving her towards the bed, and she sat down once her legs hit its side. Caspian leaned down and gently pushed her onto the sheets, their lips never moving away from the other's as they spent the remainder of the night away from Narnia, and with each other instead.


	9. Dark Island

9

Maxine's eyes slowly fluttered open, and instead of seeing the walls of her room with sunlight filtering through the windows, she saw a muscular chest. She looked up to see Caspian was still sleeping soundly, his arms around her. She smiled softly to herself and snuggled up to the handsome prince, her nose brushing against his chest. She heard Caspian take in a deep breath, and she looked up, seeing his eyes slowly open and look down at her.

"Good morning…" He mumbled sleepily, a smile on his face. Maxine smiled back and scooted up so her face would be level with his.

"Good morning, my handsome king." She replied, leaning in to plant a sweet kiss on his lips. She saw Caspian smiling as she pulled away, "Sleep well?" Caspian nodded, and pulled her closer to him, their warm bodies touching.

"I slept very well." Caspian said, he kissed the top of her head, "Last night was amazing…" Maxine let a giggle escape her lips.

"Glad to see you enjoyed yourself." She said, Caspian's body rumbled with his own laughter, and Maxine could feel it. She loved this. She loved being this close to Caspian, and she loved this feeling of waking up with him after… what happened last night. She sighed happily, wanting to stay like this forever.

But, of course, it was never going to last. A hurried knock came on the door, making the couple jump.

"Caspian, are you in there?" Edmund's voice came from the other side. He swung open the door, "We need—! Oh, good Lord." He walked in, took one glance at the couple in bed, and turned away from them so he wouldn't see, his hand resting on his forehead over his eyes. Maxine blushed deeply and covered herself with the sheets on the bed.

"What is it, Edmund?" Caspian asked, his voice calm, but his face just as flushed as Maxine's.

"They need you on deck." Edmund said, not turning to them as he spoke, "We're at Dark Island, and we need to get ready." Caspian nodded, even though Edmund couldn't see it.

"Thank you." Caspian said. Edmund nodded once and moved towards the door.

"Please," He begged, "Don't let me catch you two like this again." He left the room and shut the door behind him. Maxine and Caspian looked back at each other, a small laugh escaping both of them.

"We _should_ get up." Caspian said, sitting up, Maxine reached over to him and grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving the bed.

"Not yet." She whined, Caspian smiled at her childish tone and leaned down, kissing her cheek.

"Come," He said, pulling her up so she would sit on the bed, "I'll help you get ready if you want."

"No, that's okay." Maxine said, holding the sheet to herself as she got up, "I still remember how to wear chainmail." Caspian nodded, going around the room and picking up his clothes. As he walked, Maxine couldn't help but admire his physique, biting her lip as she looked him up and down. Caspian noticed her perusal and smirked.

"Admiring the view?" He asked her humorously. Maxine nodded, blushing slightly.

"Very much so." She said, looking up at him as he walked up to her.

"You didn't see enough of it last night?" Caspian asked in a low, husky voice, leaning closer to her. Maxine blushed deeply.

"I like looking at you…" She replied shyly, Caspian leaned down and kissed her.

"As I, you." He said, Maxine gasped when he pulled the sheet away, revealing her body to him.

"_Caspian!_" She squealed, reaching for the sheet. Caspian laughed as he pulled it out of her reach. "Give it back!" Caspian kept pulling it out of her reach, running around the room with the sheet as she kept chasing him, trying to get it back. It kept going until Maxine tackled Caspian down onto the bed. His laughter slowly died as she held him down. His eyes glazed over as they looked at her, implanting her beautiful face into his memory. He leaned up and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss, and she kissed him back. It didn't last for very long, because Caspian pulled away from her.

"We really _should_ get up." He whispered to her, Maxine nodded.

"Yeah…" She murmured, getting off of him and grabbing the sheet to wrap around herself as she picked up her clothes from off the floor. When she had picked up her shirt, she felt Caspian's hands rest on her shoulders and stood still as he put his face against hers from behind.

"I love you," He whispered to her, "_So_ very much." Maxine leaned into him.

"I love you, too." She said quietly. They stood still for a moment, knowing that this company they shared with each other might be their last moments to spend like this. Maxine sighed as she began to think that, and mustered up whatever she could to ask Caspian a question, "Caspian?"

"Yes, my love?" Caspian asked.

"When this is all over," Maxine began, "I want you to go back to Ramandu's island, and ask Lilliandil to be your queen." Caspian looked at her incredulously.

"What?" He asked.

"Ask her to be your queen." Maxine said, "It's what's best for your kingdom."

"But, Maxine—"

"Don't argue, Caspian." Maxine said firmly, "You _know_ it's best. She seems like she'd make a good queen, too, and I don't think you could do much better than having a star for a wife." Caspian looked at her sadly.

"Every moment I am with her," He said, with a sort of reluctant acceptance, "I will wish she was you." Maxine turned in his arms, putting her hand on his cheeks and kissing him softly.

"Thank you." She whispered, while she was thankful that Caspian was doing as she asked, she didn't want him to. She wanted to be with him until the end of time, but she knew that their worlds wouldn't allow them to stay together. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought, and Caspian gently wiped them away with his thumb, pressing his lips to hers in a kiss once more.

* * *

><p>At the helm, Maxine stood next to Caspian, looking out at the island. Everything about it seemed to be made of darkness, except for where she could see the green mist moving around inside, making it seem like it had a green glow.<p>

"So… What do you think is in there?" Taveras asked, trying to sound casual.

"Our worst nightmares." Edmund said, looking at the island.

"Our darkest wishes." Caspian said.

"Pure evil." Drinian said from the helm, looking back at the four royals. He walked over to the minotaur, "Taveras, unlock the armory." He nodded once.

"My Lord." He said, heading down the stairs to where the armory was below deck.

"Archers!" Drinian called out, "Prepare yourselves!"

"Aye, Captain!" The crew called as they went to get the crossbows.

"Light the lanterns!" Taveras ordered, some of the crew who weren't archers went to go and find a match to use on the lanterns.

"Let's get ready." Caspian said to his friends. They nodded in agreement and went to go and get prepared.

* * *

><p>Maxine and Lucy strapped the chainmail armor onto their bodies. Gale sat a few feet away from them, watching as they got ready.<p>

"When I grow up," She said, "I want to be just like you." Maxine looked up, assuming she was talking about Lucy since she spent more time with her. She and Lucy shared a glance, and Lucy looked back at Gale, smiling at her.

"When you grow up," She said, coming over to her and sitting down, "You should be just. Like. You." She pulled her into a one-arm hug and Maxine smiled at the cute moment between the two girls.

* * *

><p>Once they were prepared, they went out on deck, where Caspian had called the crew together for a final speech of encouragement to them.<p>

"No matter what happens here," Caspian began, "Every soul that stands before me has earned their place on the crew of the Dawn Treader." Behind Caspian, Dark Island rumbled like thunder menacingly, "Together, we have traveled far. Together, we have faced adversity. _Together_, we can do it again. So now is not the time to fall to fear's temptations. Be strong! Never give in." Maxine smiled as she was reminded of their conversation together just yesterday, "Our world. Our Narnian lives depend on it. Think of the lost souls we're here to save." Lucy rubbed Gale's arm comfortingly, telling her they were going to find her mother. Rhince's gaze turned to the floorboards at the mention of his wife, "Think of Aslan. Think of Narnia." Caspian started to head down from the steps, finished with his speech.

"For Narnia!" A crew member shouted out. Caspian looked up at his declaration as the rest of the crew joined in, raising their weapons high and repeating the same thing.

"For Narnia!" Maxine shouted with a smile, raising her sword. Caspian smiled at the crew, glad they had confidence in their venture. He quickly came back down to the deck, going to Maxine's side. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, "Nice speech." She reached out and linked his fingers with hers.

"Thank you." Caspian said, his hand gently squeezed hers as they slowly began to enter the territory of Dark Island. Once inside, Maxine couldn't see any form of land. Only a few rocks sticking up here and there, but not much else. They soon went through a thick fog, and Maxine looked up as the green mist suddenly came down upon them, moving through the crew members and down below deck. Rhince watched as part of the mist began to take the form of something, and smiled when he saw his wife.

"Helen!" He said happily as she began to walk towards him. He held out his arms to her, only to have her form walk right through him. His smile quickly fell when she disappeared. The mist traveled up to the helm where Drinian, Caspian, and Maxine stood.

"I can't see a thing!" Drinian hissed to Caspian, "This fog's too thick." Caspian looked at the mist as it suddenly moved around him. It took up a form behind him.

"You… are a great disappointment to me." A voice from the mist said, Caspian turned to where the faceless mist suddenly disappeared. It came up on his other side, putting on the face of Caspian's father, "You call yourself my son, and _act_ like a king." The mist disappeared again and Caspian looked at it worriedly, considering the words it had said in his father's voice.

Maxine looked around at the mist suspiciously, keeping her guard up as it passed by her.

"What a _brat_ you were." A voice said, Maxine's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she turned around to see the mist had taken an all-too-familiar form.

"…Mom?" She asked quietly, seeing her mother's face and form in the mist.

"Always crying and needing attention." Her mother said disgustedly, "You think I _wanted_ you around? I didn't want some kid whining and keeping me up at all hours of the night. The only reason I had you was because I couldn't afford to get rid of you." Maxine felt her stomach sink as the mist dissipated. Although it was just the mist, she couldn't be sure it wasn't lying.

The mist took a form it already had previously, the White Witch, and went over to Edmund. "Edmund," It called out to him, "Come with me." Edmund stared at it with wide eyes, "Be my king. I'll let you _rule_."

"Go away." Edmund said to it, "You're dead."

"You can never kill _me_." She cooed as she floated away, "I'll always be alive… in your _mind_, silly boy."

"No!" Edmund shouted at it.

"Edmund." Lucy said, getting his attention. She looked at him worriedly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He said shortly, nodding his head once. He turned his head to the island when a loud moaning sort of shout was heard. Everyone went over to the side of the boat to see what had made the sound

"Keep away!" A voice shouted, echoing through the island, "Keep _away_!"

"Who's there?" Edmund shouted out.

"We do not fear you!" Caspian shouted, thinking it might be another trick from the mist.

"Nor I, you!" The voice said, they realized the voice came from a lone rock a little ways away from them. Edmund reached for his flashlight and shined it on the rock. The light landed on a deranged-looking man with wild hair, and wearing worn out chainmail. "Keep away!"

"We will not leave!" Caspian said to him.

"You will not defeat me!" The man said, holding up a sword, one that the group recognized right away.

"Caspian, his sword!" Maxine said, pointing to the very Narnian-made sword.

"Lord Rhoop!" Caspian cried, running down to the railing.

"You do not own me!" The man, apparently Lord Rhoop, shouted out.

"Stand down!" Caspian ordered to the archers, who had all pointed their crossbows at him. "Let's get him on board. Quickly!" Some of the crew began to swing grappling hooks to get to the rock to bring him aboard the ship, but before they ever shot them out, Eustace flew over, picking up the lord and bringing him over to the ship, dropping him onto the deck. Once his feet touched the wood, Lord Rhoop swung the sword around wildly at the crew, making them keep their distance, "Be calm, my lord!"

"_Off me, demon!_" Lord Rhoop snarled out, glaring at all the crew members.

"No, my lord," Caspian said in a calm tone, "We are not here to hurt you. I am your king. Caspian." Lord Rhoop became still, taking his words in.

"…Caspian?" He muttered, he looked over at the young king and gasped happily, "My Lord!" He went over to him, near tears as he reached out to him, but didn't touch him, almost afraid that if he made contact, he would disappear. He stood up, "You should not have come! There's no way out of here! Quickly!" He looked over at where Drinian stood at the helm, "Turn this ship about before it's too late!"

"We got the sword, let's go!" Edmund said, in complete agreement with the man.

"Let's turn her about, Drinian." Caspian ordered the captain.

"Aye, your majesty." Drinian said, sounding more than happy to leave the island.

"_Do not think!_" Lord Rhoop said suddenly to Caspian, who looked at him oddly, "Do not let it know your fears, or it will _become them_…!" At the mention of their fears, Maxine's eyes shut for a moment, thinking of the one thing she had been worried about since its first mention at the beginning of their journey. Then she realized what she had just done.

"Oh, no…" She groaned. Everyone looked at her when she spoke.

"Max," Lucy said fearfully, looking at her, "Max, _what did you just think of?_!"

"Oh, God, I'm sorry!" Maxine said, she ran to the side of the ship, looking out among the rocks, seeing ones that vaguely resembled the spiked back of an eel moving into the water. The ship lurched suddenly, making the entire ship rock. Caspian ran to the side to see what they hit.

"Look!" He cried, pointing as a large mass moved underneath the water, "What is that?"

"Too late…" Lord Rhoop muttered, seeing it, "It's too late!"

"It's gone under the boat!" A crew member said, seeing the mass disappear. Lucy looked over on the opposite side of the boat and saw Gale hiding on the other side of the boat.

"Gale!" She shouted at her. Gale shrieked as a splash came from the water beside her. Out of the ocean came a huge, hideous sea serpent, bearing its fangs menacingly. Lucy grabbed Gale and pulled her away from the monster as everyone else armed themselves against the creature. Before it could attack the ship, Eustace came roaring in, spewing fire at the serpent, making it cry out in pain. Eustace latched onto the monster, holding on as tightly as he could as it moved around, trying to throw him off, hitting him against the boat to try and get his claws out of his skull. Reepicheep scurried off Eustace's head onto the snout of the serpent.

"For Narnia!" He shouted, raising his sword, "Take that!" He stabbed it into the serpent, and it cried out in pain, writhing even more than before and throwing the mouse off of him. Reepicheep caught onto a rope on the boat before he fell and looked to see Eustace was still fighting the beast, "Eustace! Hang on!" The serpent threw him off as well, sending Eustace over the boat. He quickly turned on his side and began flapping his wings, heading back to the serpent to attack again. The serpent jumped out, taking the dragon in his mouth and diving underwater with him. Everyone ran to the other side of the boat where the serpent came back up, throwing Eustace against a rock. Maxine grimaced at the sight. The serpent reared up, preparing to strike Eustace like a snake would strike its prey, and just as it began to, Eustace shot out fire, making its snout and the inside of its mouth burn. The serpent cried out in pain and dove under the water to put out the fire.

"Out creature!" Lord Rhoop cried, running towards the sight of the boat with his sword raised.

"No! The sword!" Caspian shouted, realizing what he was about to do. Lord Rhoop threw the sword out, nailing it in Eustace's shoulder. He roared out in pain.

"Eustace!" Lucy cried. The dragon's wings began to flap and he started to fly away, "No! Come back!"

"We're doomed!" Lord Rhoop moaned out, "Doomed!" He ran up to the helm, pushing the helmsman aside, "Turn this ship _about_!" He put his hands on the wheel, preparing to turn it around. He spun it some, making the ship swerve greatly, and making everyone fall from the sudden movement. Drinian stopped the wheel before he could keep turning it, and punched him across the face, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

"All crew!" He commanded, "To your rowing positions! Oars at double speed!" Lucy looked up towards the sky.

_Aslan_, She prayed, _help us_. Only a second later did a seagull fly in from a hole in the darkness surrounding them, cawing out and flying in the direction they needed to get out. The serpent let out a cry as it swam over to them, refusing to let them leave. Maxine shrieked as it went over the deck, crashing through the railing then going back into the water. Lucy grabbed Gale to take her to a safer place, and Caspian tried to get to Maxine, but she was on the side of the serpent opposite him. The serpent came out again and wrapped itself around the ship tightly, lifting up its head and letting out a shrieking growl at the crew. Caspian ran up to the helm to keep the ship steady, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a rock sticking out of the water.

"Ed! Max!" He called, getting their attention, "We ram the serpent." He nodded to the rock he had seen, "Smash it on the rocks."

"Steer it to port!" Maxine shouted over the noise of the battle, "I'll keep it distracted!" Caspian looked hesitant for her to do this, but nodded.

"Max!" Edmund shouted, making her stop before she ran. He took his flashlight and tossed it to her, "Use that to get its attention." Maxine nodded and hooked the flashlight to a strap on her chain mail before running towards the serpent's head, waving her arms to get its attention. It dove down, trying to get at her, but missed. She headed for the ladder that went to the dragon's head at the front of the boat, barely dodging the serpent's second strike at her. She went through the dragon's mouth and held out the flashlight, turning it on and aiming it at the serpent's eyes.

"Here!" She shouted at it. The serpent growled at the sight of the light, following it to the head of the boat, "I'm right here! Come and get me! Come on!" The serpent shrieked out and latched its teeth onto the head of the dragon.

"No!" Lucy shrieked when she saw it.

"_Maxine_!" Caspian cried, in fear for the woman he loved.

The serpent bit off the dragon's snout, Maxine remained still on what was left of the dragon's head, completely unharmed as the serpent spat the wooden snout out of its mouth. She climbed up to the top of the dragon's head, dodging when the serpent snapped at her. She didn't hear Drinian calling to the archers to get ready to fire, Lucy using Susan's bow and arrows. She turned back to it.

"Come on!" She shouted at it, "I'm still here!" The serpent reared up, preparing to attack her again, but an arrow flew out, hitting its snout. The serpent shrieked in pain, moving back.

"Brace yourselves!" Caspian shouted from the helm, his call had distracted Maxine, and she took her eyes off the serpent for only a second. The serpent took that second to place a final attack on her, reaching out with its teeth to try and eat her. Maxine saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and tried to dodge it, and she almost did, but one of the serpent's teeth nicked her throat, slicing it open. She put her hand to it, unable to cry out because she couldn't speak. She couldn't _breathe_. Maxine fell back onto the deck from the force of the ship ramming the serpent against the rocks. She bounced off its tail and landed rolling on the deck. She desperately tried to hang on, keeping her eyes open, but it was becoming very difficult. Her lungs cried out for air she couldn't give them, and her sight became darker and darker by the second. She vaguely heard Caspian calling her name before she slipped into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Maxine's eyes opened, and she found she was back in the car that had landed in the river at her mother's home. She was still in the car seat, but instead of being just above the water, she was already completely engulfed in it, with the seatbelt still around her torso. She tugged furiously at the seatbelt, trying to get it off of her so she could leave the car and get some much needed air. She struggled to get the seatbelt undone, but it would not release her. She uselessly tried to rip the seat belt to let her go, but her strength was disappearing as the car hit the bottom of the river. She struggled and squirmed to get out of the car, writhing as much as possible to try and get free. Her head felt like it was going to split in two from the pressure of being in the water, and her lungs were about to burst from having no oxygen. As a last effort, Maxine let out a scream, but instantly stopped when she realized she had no air to scream with.<p>

She felt her strength slipping further and further away, until she could no longer hold back her breath, and released the air in her lungs, her eyes closing as she fell unconscious, sitting still in the car seat, her limbs rising slightly in the water as her body breathed in the water, not realizing it was making her drown.

* * *

><p>Maxine let out a scream as she shot up from where she lay down. She looked down at herself, seeing she wasn't wearing the clothes she had been wearing in Narnia, or back at home. She was dressed in a long-sleeved cotton V-neck shirt and pants. She looked down at her bare feet, wiggling her toes. Where had her shoes gone? She looked around and saw nothing but a white expanse. There were no hills, there was no sky, no animals, and no people. There was nothing here.<p>

She heard someone clicking their tongue in disappointment, and she turned around to see… herself?

"Shame," She said, looking down at her, "For shame. I hoped I wouldn't see you here for, at least, another few decades or so." The other Maxine sighed unhappily, "But things never turn out how I think they do. It happens all the time." Maxine took in her appearance. She was the same height and build as herself, with the same face and same hair. The only difference between them was their clothing style. This Max wore a professional-looking suit that one might find on a business woman, but everything about it was white. Maxine looked up at her and she looked back down at her, "It makes this job really suck, you know?"

"…Who are you?" Maxine asked, looking her up and down.

"Well, I think that should be quite obvious," The other Max said with a humorous smirk as she held out her hand to Maxine to help her stand, "I'm you, sweetheart." Maxine took her hand and stood up, looking over the suited Maxine.

"No you're not." She said, "_I'm_ me. You can't be me. I don't walk around in suits, and I _definitely_ don't wear four inch heels." She pointed to the other Maxine's white high heels.

"How right you are!" The other Maxine agreed with a smile, "I'm _not_ you. I just take the appearance of my clients so I can remember who they are."

"Clients?" Maxine asked confusedly.

"You see, Max, dear," The other Maxine began, "I'm what you might call a… guardian angel mixed with a defense attorney."

"You're not a guardian angel." Maxine said, looking at her, "You don't have any wings, and you look nothing like an angel." The other Maxine sighed exasperatedly, as if she was tired of hearing her words.

"Look, not all angels are how Van Gogh and other old artists made us look." She said, "We don't actually have wings, alright? Well, _some_ of us choose to walk around with them, but that's mainly because— Wait, am I allowed to tell you that stuff?" She reached into her suit jacket and pulled out a large wad of thick papers, thumbing through some of them, until she came to the page she was looking for, and trailed her finger down the page, "Ah, here it is. Um… Oh, I _am_ allowed to tell you. Okay—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second!" Maxine said, stopping her from continuing, "What the heck is _that?_!" She pointed to the ten-pound bunch of papers.

"This?" The other Maxine said, holding them up, "It's your contract."

"I don't remember signing _any_ contract _ever_!" Maxine snapped at her.

"Oh, you didn't sign this." The other Maxine said, "Your father signed it for you."

"My father doesn't even know I'm alive!" Maxine said.

"Not your earth father, your other one." The other Maxine said dismissively. Before Maxine could ask what she meant, the other Maxine continued speaking, "This has every rule for everything that I could ever tell you, or not tell you, and let you do and not do. It is the _ultimate_ contract." Maxine looked at the papers, then back at the other Maxine, then shook her head.

"Whatever!" She said, "Look, can you please just tell me what's going on?"

"Oh, yeah." The other Maxine said, putting the incredibly thick contract back in her suit jacket, making it look as if it was never there, "This happens to me all the time; I get caught up in conversation with my clients and never get down to business with them!" She laughed at herself, "Isn't that _funny_?" When Maxine didn't laugh, her smile fell and she scratched awkwardly at the back of her head, "Right… the reason you're here…" She bit her lip nervously, "Well… I don't know how to put this exactly, Max, uh… you're dead… In both worlds."

"What do you mean?" Maxine asked.

"Well, normally, if someone was to die in Narnia, they'd just go back to their original world," The other Maxine explained, "But, in your case, you died as soon as you got back… so… yeah. You're here."

"And where is here, exactly?" Maxine asked.

"That would be the Threshold of Death." The other Maxine said, "See, here's the thing, you died before it was your time. Therefore, I'm obligated to give you a choice. You can either choose to leave this place alone, or choose to leave it with me."

"What's the difference?" Maxine asked, the other Maxine let out an uneasy hiss.

"I'm not allowed to tell you that." She said, "But what I am allowed to tell you is that if you come with me, every question you've ever had will be answered." Maxine looked at her suited self doubtfully.

"_Every_ question?" She asked dubiously.

"_Every_ question," The other Maxine confirmed with a nod. "Even that one about your mother." Maxine faltered slightly, remembering the words the mist had taunted her with, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was true or not. She had no way of knowing for sure.

"…Really?" She asked quietly, the other Maxine nodded.

"All you have to do," She said, "Is take my hand." She held out her hand to her and Maxine gazed at it, thinking of how she could truly know everything she ever wanted to know. Every question she had about her life, all the 'what ifs' that had gone unanswered, she would know. She reached out to take the hand of the girl who called herself her guardian angel, "But you should know," Maxine looked up at her, "If you do come with me, you can never come back. You will never go back to see your mother, or your friends, or Caspian ever again." Maxine looked at her, then back down at her hand. She pulled her own hand away. She didn't want to leave Caspian again, for good. The first time was far too painful, the second time was sure to be even worse.

"No…" She murmured, shaking her head, "I want to leave by myself. I don't know what that will do, but… if there's a chance I can see Caspian again, I'll take it." She looked up at her, "Are you allowed to tell me if there's a chance?" The other Maxine shook her head.

"Sorry." She said, "Now, are you sure though? All those questions you have, you won't know that answer until it's really your time."

Maxine nodded her head, "I'm sure." She put her hand at her side, "Show me the way out. I'm leaving on my own." The other Maxine smiled, nodding once.

"Good choice." She said, she pointed behind her, "The door's right over there."

"What door?" Maxine asked, turning around and saw a huge ten-foot high pair of doors right behind her. "_Ohhh_, _that_ door." She said, seeing it. The other Maxine nodded.

"Well, go on!" She said, shooing her forward with a smile, "It's not gonna stay there forever! Well, technically, it _will_, but— Oh, forget it! Just get going!" Maxine nodded and walked towards the door, "Oh, by the way, Max," She turned around, "What do you think of the name Alina?" Maxine quirked an eyebrow at her question.

"It's… a cool name." She said hesitantly, "Why?" The other Maxine smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, no reason." She said cheerily, "Now get going." She shooed her along, "Go on." Maxine nodded once and walked towards the doors, putting her hand on it and pushing it open, walking through it.

* * *

><p><strong>To be honest, that last part came to me in a dream. It's important to the chapter, so it will be explained soon! I promise!<strong>

**Also, I noticed how a few of you might not have liked that Max and Caspian slept together, but that's important to the story, too, kay?**


	10. Another Heartbreaking Goodbye

10

Maxine awoke to Caspian and Lucy leaning over her, Lucy putting a cork back on her cordial. She looked at them and smiled.

"What'd I miss?" She asked quietly, they both let out a relieved laugh at her words.

"A lot, actually." Caspian said, he leaned down and kissed her forehead, "But at least you are alive." Maxine smiled at him, and looked up in surprise when she saw that holes were appearing all along Dark Island.

"What happened to the sea serpent?" She asked, moving to sit up, feeling Caspian's hands steady her as she did.

"We beat it." Lucy said happily, "How's your neck?" Maxine reached up where her neck had been cut, feeling no wound.

"It's fine." She said, she pushed herself to stand, and Caspian stood by her side, his hands on her shoulders.

"Narnians!" A member of the crew shouted, pointing to a fog that had been hidden by the island where many groups of boats waited in the water, "Narnians!" The crew shouted and hollered at them to get their attention and they hollered back. Maxine and Lucy went over to the side of the boat and looked out at all the people there. Rhince stood beside Gale as they went over to the side of the railing as well, looking out at all the boats. Gale's eyes widened as she saw the one she wanted to find.

"_Mummy!_" She cried.

"Helen!" Rhince shouted out, seeing his wife was safe. Gale jumped off the boat and into the water, swimming towards her mother, and Rhince followed her, helping her along. Lucy smiled at the happy reunion.

"Rhince! Gale!" Helen cried, seeing her family. Once they got to the boat, she hugged her daughter tightly and kissed her husband, holding them close. Maxine wiped away a tear that was about to fall from her eyes. Caspian's arm went around her shoulder, gently rubbing it as he turned to the crew.

"Let's get them on board!" He ordered, "Clear the decks!" The crew bustled about, clearing all the debris from the battle off their decks as Caspian and Max went over to Edmund and Lucy, smiling at them.

"We did it." Lucy said, "I _knew_ we would."

"It wasn't just us, though." Edmund pointed out. Caspian looked at him curiously.

"You mean…" Caspian was cut off by someone's shouts.

"Hey!" He shouted from the opposite side of the boat, "Hey! I'm down here! Lucy! Over here!" The four of them went over to see who was calling out, "Hey, Lucy! I'm in the water! Lucy!"

"Eustace!" Lucy cried happily, seeing her human cousin swimming around in the water. He smiled up at them.

"I'm a boy again!" He shouted happily, "I'm a boy!"

"Eustace!" Reepicheep cried joyously at the sight of him, "I see your wings have been clipped! Ha, ha!" He jumped into the water to join him, splashing some of the water on Eustace's face. Normally, Eustace would have complained about getting splashed on, but this time, he only laughed happily. Lucy let out a giggle at the mouse's enthusiasm, Maxine did the same as he began to sing, "_Where sky and water meet! Where the waves grow ever sweet!_" He reached his paw into the water and drank some of it, pausing when he realized the water tasted more like water from a river than the salty water of the ocean, "It _is_ sweet!" Eustace drank some of the water as well, looking at it in surprise at the taste, "It's sweet!" Maxine quirked a curious eyebrow at the water at his words, sharing a glance with Caspian, who only shrugged, "Look! Look!" Reepicheep swam over to Eustace's shoulder so he could get a better look at what lay ahead. In the distance, he could see mountains that rose so high, they were lost in a sea of clouds that stood over a glittering ocean.

"Aslan's country." Caspian murmured, seeing it as well, "We must be close."

"Well," Maxine began with a smirk, "We've gotten _this_ far. What's the end of the world?" Caspian smiled at her and she smiled back.

* * *

><p>Maxine sat down next to Eustace on the longboat as they rowed out to Aslan's country. They couldn't take the ship because they were still preparing to take in all of those who had been 'sacrificed' to the mist. As they came closer to the end of the world, Maxine saw that the water was covered in floating lilies in front of them. They weren't the kind of lilies you'd find in a pond, more like lilies that you would find in a garden, and they didn't seem to have any roots in the water, so they didn't have to worry about running aground any time soon. She reached down into the water and picked one up, sniffing it, and finding that it smelled sweeter than any flower she had ever encountered in her life. She passed it around so everyone could see it, and Eustace asked to see it first, saying the same thing she had thought about it. Now that Eustace was no longer a dragon, Maxine couldn't help noticing that his overall demeanor had changed. He was a much more pleasant person than when she had first met him. She asked him how he had returned to normal, and he told them that a great lion had helped him to transform back into himself.<p>

"So, what was it like?" Edmund asked his cousin, "When Aslan changed you back?"

Eustace took a moment to think about it, "No matter how hard I tried," He began, "I couldn't do it myself. Then he came towards me. It sort of hurt, but it was a good pain. You know, like when you pull a thorn from your foot."

"What was it like to be a dragon?" Maxine asked.

"Being a dragon wasn't all bad." Eustace said, a wry smile coming on his face, "I think I was a better dragon than I was a boy, really." He looked back at everyone, "I'm so sorry for being such a S.O.B."

"It's okay, Eustace." Edmund said, "You are a pretty good dragon." Everyone laughed a little bit at his words.

"My friends," Reepicheep said from the head of the boat, "We have arrived." They looked back to see a huge wave went around the entire land, never seeming to go down. The water just seemed to keep going and going in an eternal loop, making a wave, but not making it rise any higher. Maxine thought it was beautiful.

They ran the boat up on the shore line and they all left the boat, going up onto the shore that stood before the wave, walking up to it. Caspian's hand grasped hers as they walked and Maxine smiled at him. As they walked, no one noticed the shadow of a lion moving beside them. Eustace looked up, and saw the bearer of the shadow.

"Aslan," He said in surprise. Everyone looked over at the lion and stopped walking as he smiled at them.

"Welcome children." He greeted, "You have done well. Very well, indeed. You have come far, and now your journey is at its end." Lucy looked over at the lion.

"Is this your country?" She asked, gesturing the land they stood on.

"No." Aslan said, "My country lies beyond." He looked to the wave in front of them and the mountains that stood behind it. Caspian looked up at the wave, gazing at it.

"Is my father in your country?" He asked him.

"You can only find that out for yourself, my son." Aslan said to him, "But you should know that if you continue, there is no return." Caspian looked up at the wave, his grip loosening on Maxine's hand. He stepped forward, and she let his hand leave hers as he walked toward the wave. She knew how important this was to him, and she didn't want to interfere. Caspian walked through the water that stood at the foot of the wave, but stopped before walking into it. He reached his hand out and touched the water, feeling it run through his hands. Behind this wave was Aslan's country, behind this wave was his father, and his mother, and perhaps everything he ever wanted. He wouldn't have to go back to Ramandu's island and ask Lilliandil to marry him as he promised Maxine. His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he realized something. If he went through this wave to Aslan's country, he would never return to Narnia, to where his kingdom and his subjects waited for him. He would never see Maxine again, even if he was married to another woman, it would be a small price to pay just to see her once more.

He pulled his hand away from the water and stepped back from it, turning around. Tears had welled up in his eyes as he walked back to the others.

"You're not going?" Edmund asked in surprise.

"I can't imagine that my father would be very proud that I gave up what he died for." Caspian said, he looked over at Maxine, "I've spent too long wanting what was taken from me and not what was given. I was given a kingdom… a people…" He looked over at Aslan, stepping in front of him, "I promise to be a better king."

Aslan smiled at him, "You already are." Caspian looked back at Maxine, and she smiled and walked over to him, taking his hand in hers again.

"I'm proud of you." She said, reaching up and kissing his cheek. Caspian smiled at her, squeezing her hand tightly in his. Aslan turned to the Pevensies and Eustace.

"Children?" He asked, wondering if they wanted to keep travelling to see his country.

"I think, perhaps, it's time we went home, actually, Lu." Edmund said, Lucy looked over at her brother in surprise.

"But I thought you loved it here?" She asked him.

"I _do_." Edmund said, "But I love home and our family as well. They need us." Lucy nodded with a sort of reluctant acceptance. Aslan looked over at Maxine, silently asking her if she wanted to go forward.

"Oh, no thanks." She said, shaking her head, "I've had enough travelling for one lifetime." Aslan nodded once at her answer.

Reepicheep cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention as he walked over to Aslan, taking the feather off his head in respect and bowing deeply, "Your imminence," He said, "Ever since I can remember, I have dreamt of seeing your country. I've had many great adventures in this world, but…" He looked up at Aslan with the same look a child might have if they were asking their parent for that puppy they wanted so badly, "Nothing has dampened that yearning. I know I am hardly worthy, but, with your permission, I would lay down my sword for the joy of seeing your own country with my own eyes." Eustace looked at him rather sadly, a bit upset that he might lose the first friend he made in Narnia.

Aslan smiled at the mouse, "My country was made for noble hearts, such as yours." He said, "No matter how small their bearers be." Reepicheep smiled widely, and Maxine thought he might jump up and cheer in joy, but he didn't. Instead, he bowed deeply again.

"Your majesty." He said, his voice showing how grateful he was.

"No one could be more deserving." Caspian said. Reepicheep shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, I—" Edmund cut off the mouse from his excuse.

"It's true." He said, he bowed to the mouse, and Reepicheep bowed back. Lucy looked as if she was about to cry, and went over to the mouse, standing on her knees before him.

"May I?" She asked apprehensively, knowing how much it would wound Reepicheep's pride if she didn't ask.

"Well… I suppose, just this—" That was all Lucy needed to hear before she picked up the mouse and coddled him in her arms. Reepicheep smiled at the young queen and hugged her back. "Goodbye, Lucy." She put him back down on the ground and stood up, going back to stand by Edmund as Maxine left Caspian's side to go before the mouse, smiling at him, "Ah… You want the same, I assume?"

"Not really." Maxine said with a shrug, she leaned down and kissed the top of his furry head, "Just that." Reepicheep laughed sheepishly, and Maxine almost swore she saw an embarrassed blush on Reepicheep's cheeks, but his fur covered it up, "And to let you know that you're the greatest mouse I've ever met. Much better than the ones back home." The Pevensies let out small giggles, knowing what she meant by that, while Reepicheep was only mildly confused. He bowed to her.

"Ever still, my lady is too kind." He said, Maxine's smile widened slightly as she remembered him saying the same thing when they first met. She stood up and went back to Caspian, who took her hand in his. After her was Eustace, who went up to the mouse, sniffling, with tears in his eyes. Reepicheep tried to comfort him by softly saying, "Don't cry."

"I don't understand." Eustace said, "Will I not see you again? Ever?"

"What a magnificent puzzle you are." Reepicheep said with a smile, "And a true hero. It has been my honor to fight beside such a brave warrior, and a great friend." Eustace smiled sadly at him and stood up. Reepicheep turned around scurrying towards the wave, over to where a small boat sat near the water with a single oar that was big enough for just the little mouse. He pulled out his sword, "I won't be needing this." He stuck it into the sand and pushed the boat forward on the water, jumping in once it was afloat and paddling his way up the wave. Everyone watched as he rode up higher and higher until he was at the very top of the wave. He looked back at them one last time before he went down the other side, and disappeared from their sight. Lucy and Eustace began to cry, and while Edmund knew his cousin wouldn't accept his comfort, he put a hand on his sister's shoulder as she turned to Aslan.

"This is our last time here, isn't it?" She asked him tearfully, Maxine felt her heart sink. Did that mean she would never come back to Narnia as well?

"Yes," Aslan said, "You have grown up, my dear one. Just like Peter and Susan." Edmund and Lucy walked over to him. Lucy gently petted the side of his face.

"Will you visit us in our world?" She asked him.

"I shall be watching you, always." He replied.

"How?" Lucy asked.

"In your world, I have another name." Aslan began, "You must learn to know me by it. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia. That by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better, there."

"Will we meet again?" Lucy asked, her voice thick with tears. Maxine felt her own tears coming at the thought of leaving and never returning.

"Yes, dear one." Aslan said, "One day." He turned to where Maxine stood, "However, you, Maxine, will remain here." Tears fell from Maxine's eyes as she looked up at the lion with wide eyes.

"What?" She asked, "Why?"

"You cannot leave for two reasons." Aslan said, "One you know, the other you do not. Both prevent you from leaving Narnia." Everyone looked over at Maxine as she looked at the lion incredulously.

"But, I thought…" She began, "I mean… wasn't that all a dream? If I go back, I thought I would—" Aslan shook his head.

"No. The result would be the same." Maxine gulped nervously, her hand going to her chest as she remembered the burning feeling in her lungs when she was drowning.

"Why can't she leave?" Edmund asked the lion.

"The first reason," Aslan began, "Is that in her world, she suffered a tragic accident, and died." Edmund looked over at Maxine.

"You _died?_!" He asked in shock, Maxine nodded.

"When… When I was driving home," Maxine began, "I fell off a bridge and into a river. The— The seatbelt got stuck and I… I couldn't get out of the car." She looked back at Aslan, "What's the other reason?"

"The other reason," Aslan said, "Is that you are now carrying the heir to the Narnian throne." Maxine's eyes widened to the point that she feared they might pop out, "If you left, you would take it with you, and Narnia would be without its next ruler." Maxine put her hands to her stomach, feeling her heart pound, and her breath come a bit faster as a result of it.

"…Pregnant?" She whispered quietly. She looked back up at the lion, "I-I'm _pregnant_?" Aslan nodded once and Maxine turned around to Caspian, wanting to know his reaction to this news. The second she faced him, Caspian took her in his arms, kissing her passionately as he held her close. When he pulled away, he picked her up and spun her in the air with a smile, bringing her back to the ground and hugging her closely to him. Maxine laughed, "I take it you're happy about this?" Caspian nodded, kissing her again, but more sweetly than before.

"More than you could ever know." Caspian murmured, Maxine smiled and nodded. Her smile disappeared when a thought occurred to her and she turned to Aslan.

"But what about my mom?" She asked, "And my brothers and sister? I… I don't want to leave them."

"I'm afraid you must." Aslan said, "Your mother and her children learned to live without you, and they shall keep doing so." Maxine frowned, but nodded in acceptance. Aslan turned to the wave and roared, making the waves open up into a tunnel that would lead them home. Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace walked slowly over to where Caspian and Maxine stood next to each other. Caspian looked at the three of them, wondering how to say goodbye.

"You're the closest thing I have to family." Caspian said, he looked over at Eustace, seeing his gaze was looking at the ground and smiled, clapping him on the shoulder, "And that includes you, Eustace." Eustace smiled at him, bringing his own hand onto Caspian's shoulder.

"Thank you." He said, he pointed at Maxine, "And it looks like you might have more family soon." Maxine laughed, putting her hands on her stomach. Caspian smiled at her, putting his hand on the small of her back.

"I guess so." Maxine said, smiling at him. She went over to him and embraced him. Eustace was startled by the sudden movement, but hugged her back nonetheless. Edmund went over to Caspian and they shared a brotherly embrace. Edmund moved over to Maxine, and embraced each other, Maxine giving Edmund a small squeeze as she felt tears come out of her eyes. She kissed his cheek as he pulled away.

"I still have so many questions." Edmund said, "I want to know what it's going to be like, how people will act, who's in charge… There are so many things I want to know."

"You know I'm not going to tell you." Maxine said, Edmund nodded.

"Will you at least tell me if we'll see each other again in the future?" Edmund asked, "Well, _my_ future, _your_ past." Maxine's smile faltered at his words. She had never seen Edmund, or Lucy, or Peter, or Eustace when she was growing up, and she couldn't meet up with them again. She knew this because when she had asked Susan why she had never seen them, she had told them that they had all died in a tragic train accident. Maxine's eyes welled up with tears once more and she pulled Edmund back in, giving him a tight squeeze.

"I can't." She said, tears falling freely from her eyes, "I'm sorry Ed." She pulled back, "Promise me you'll be good." Edmund nodded and moved away from her. After Lucy had hugged Caspian, crying herself, she went over to Maxine. The two girls shared a tight hug, tears coming from their eyes, "You too, Luce. Promise me." Lucy only nodded, fearing that if she spoke, she'd start to sob. Maxine pulled away first and Lucy looked up at her, still crying. Edmund went over to Aslan, bowing slightly to him, and the lion bowed back. Lucy went up to the lion, hugging him around his neck, and kissing him when she pulled away. They walked over to where the watery tunnel waited for them. Eustace hesitated before he went in. He turned back around to face Aslan.

"Will I ever come back?" He asked him.

"Narnia may yet have need of you." Aslan said. Eustace only nodded once, following his cousins into the tunnel and letting the water engulf them, returning them home. Maxine kept wiping away her tears after they had gone. Caspian put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her as she sniffled sadly.

"I never see them again." She told Caspian in a broken voice, "They die before I get a chance to." Caspian held her close, and she cried softly into his chest. He kissed her cheek and she pushed herself away from him, wiping away her tears and forcing herself to calm down. She looked at Aslan, "Thank you, for… letting me stay." Aslan nodded. Caspian turned to the lion, bowing deeply.

"Thank you." He said, echoing her words, "Once we return to Narnia, things will be different, I promise."

"I know they will be." Aslan said. Caspian took Maxine's hand and they walked back to the longboat. He looked over at her, noting she still had a sorrowful aura around her.

To try and lighten the mood, he leaned down and asked in a quiet voice, "Still want me to marry Lilliandil?" Maxine smacked his chest, "Ow!"

"_No_, I don't want you to!" Maxine said, trying to sound mean when she had an amused smile on her face, knowing he was just kidding. He smiled at her and helped her into the boat, "But… I think I'll take you up on that proposal." Caspian's smile widened as he pushed the boat off into the water and jumped in once it was floating.

"That would make me the happiest man alive." He said, leaning over and kissing her softly. She smiled at him as he pulled away, going to the oars and using them to bring them back to the Dawn Treader.

"You know," Maxine began randomly, "The trip back is going to be total hell."

"And why is that?" Caspian asked.

"Because, in a couple of weeks, I'm going to have to deal with morning sickness." Maxine grimaced, "Not looking forward to that." Caspian laughed and after a moment, Maxine laughed with him.

END

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><p><strong>Okay, I want to thank all the people who reviewed and favorited my story.<strong>

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**Thanks so much! You guys inspired me to keep on writing every single day! Don't expect there to be a sequel any time soon unless I can get my hands on a new Narnia movie IF it comes out any time soon, but maybe a little one-shot about what happens in the future? I don't know, you guys tell me if you want the one-shot or not, because I'm not writing up any sequel to this.**

**Love y'all so freaking much! ^_^**

**Thanks again for reviewing and reading and favoriting!**


	11. READ PLEASE!

**What's up guys?**

**Guess what?**

**The one-shot sequel is FINALLY up!**

**Go and read it!**

**:)**


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